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
Federal income tax cuts enacted during the past four years have been particularly benefcial to New York, saving Empire State residents a total of $36 billion through 2004. However, as documented in this report, New Yorkers are also being hit harder than most Americans by what’s been called “the most serious problem faced by federal taxpayers” — the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). Read More
New Yorkers owed an extra $2.6 billion to the federal government last year as a result of the Alternative Minimum Tax, or AMT, as documented in a new Empire Center report available. Other findings: The AMT hit 332,000 New York househol Read More