The continuing travails of the Yonkers City School District are the subject of an article in today's (registration required). Money graf: After decades of budget conflicts, bitter struggles over desegregation and lagging test scores a Read More
Latest
A major manufacturer is creating 150 new jobs and investing $120 million in its Buffalo facility. The Governor points out that these are "good paying jobs with health care benefits." Unfortunately, the plant in question -- owned by Toyota, as it Read More
In their rush to pass a budget on time for the first time in 20 years, state legislators didn't forget to pass the pork. Tucked into page 683 of the in the "community projects fund" account is a $200 million lump sum appropriation "[f]or services Read More
New York's Legislature has been called the most dysfunctional in America -- yet it also is among the most expensive to run. As summarized in this by the Empire Center's director, E.J. McMahon: * The legislature's budget of nearly $1 million per mem Read More
With little advance notice or fanfare, a constitutional amendment (S.1) that would give the Legislature much more power to shape the state budget was reported out of the Senate Finance Committee today. The Assembly version (A.2) was approved back in February, so the measure is now a big step closer to a statewide voter referendum. Read More
After tweaking a few of their house rules and adopting a state budget on time for the first time in 20 years, many New York State legislators would have you believe they've fixed all or most of what's broken in Albany. Read More
The former U.S. senator from Nebraska moved to New York in 2001 to become president of the New School University. A Democrat, Kerrey reportedly was planning to endorse the reelection bid of the city's nominally Republican mayor, Michael Bloomberg. Read More
State funds spending will rise 7.4 percent-- nearly three times the rate of inflation -- under the budget deal struck Tuesday night (4/12) by Governor Pataki and the Legislature. This is the biggest budget increase since ... well, since last year, Read More