Press Releases

New York’s governor and state lawmakers dished out $120 million for local projects favored by state lawmakers through the state Dormitory Authority in the last twelve months, according to data posted today on SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s government transparency website. Read More

Maximum eligible pension benefits for retirees of the New York City Employees Retirement System (NYCERS) increased by $135 million in 2019 over the previous year, even though some payments to retired corrections officers were left out of the data for the first time, according to data posted today at SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More

The number of New York public-sector early retirees allowed to collect both a state or local government paycheck and a full public pension benefit grew by over 4 percent from July 2018 to July 2019, according to data posted today on SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More

Billions of dollars in hidden state taxes are driving up the cost of health insurance for New York consumers and employers, according to a report published today by the Empire Center. Read More

New York’s most comprehensive online database of state and local government contracts has been updated with the latest employment agreements for school superintendents on SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More

Ruling in favor of the Empire Center, a state Supreme Court judge in Albany has ordered the Cuomo administration’s energy and environmental agencies to release a supposedly incomplete "comprehensive study" of how to meet the governor's aggressive renewable energy goals. Read More

Chris Kendall of Madison County and Jacob Rieper of Columbia County are the DeregulateNY contest grand prize winners. Both nominated an antiquated state law requiring new limited liability companies (LLCs) to buy ads announcing a “notice of organization” for six weeks in two local newspapers, one weekly and one daily. This routinely adds several hundred to several thousand dollars to the cost of starting a business. Read More

New York could reduce its Medicaid costs by more than $3 billion under proposals released today by the Empire Center's director of health policy, Bill Hammond. Read More

The state Legislature should join Governor Cuomo in resisting and rejecting proposals to further increase state taxes on New York’s highest earners, E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center testified to the joint legislative fiscal committees today. Read More

The number of six-figure pensions paid to retired New York City education professionals has increased more than fivefold in the past decade, according to data posted today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More

The state Legislature should reject the Governor Cuomo’s proposal to expand the family income cap for the Excelsior Scholarships and devote more money to expanding the state’s existing Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), according to the testimony submitted to the joint legislative committees today by E.J. McMahon, research director of the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More

Maximum pension benefits averaged $69,609 for the 2,582 members of the New York State Teachers Retirement System (NYSTRS) who retired last year with at least 30 years of credited service time, according to data posted today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More