The New York City Employee Retirement System (NYCERS) must provide the Empire Center with names and amounts of pensions paid to retired New York City uniformed employees, such as corrections officers, a Kings County Supreme Court judge ruled today. Read More
Press Releases
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to spend $340 million in budget windfall cash on a temporary state tax rebate of Thruway tolls is “an indefensible gimmick,” E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center, testified today at a Joint Legislative Budget Hearing in Albany. Read More
The complete 2015 New York state government payroll is now posted on SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s government transparency website. Read More
The Empire Center’s unique online “Explore Your State Budget” app has been updated to reflect financial data in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed 2016-17 Executive Budget. Read More
New Yorkers now can scrutinize more state pork-barrel spending details than ever, thanks to a newly expanded feature on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Recipient names and amounts for nearly 4,000 state grants totaling more than $600 million, including more than 500 approved on the final day of the 2015 legislative session, were added to SeeThroughNY today. Read More
The statewide $15 minimum wage proposed by Governor Andrew Cuomo would cost New York at least 200,000 jobs, with the most severe impact felt in upstate regions that are already struggling to create jobs, E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center, testified today. Read More
The collapse of Health Republic Insurance of New York, a non-profit insurance co-op established under Obamacare, can be blamed largely on “an apparent breakdown in state oversight,” concludes a report released today by the Empire Center. The report says the state Department of Financial Services (DFS) should loosen its regulatory control of insurance premiums and refocus on the financial soundness of insurance companies. Read More
New York City's fiscal year 2015 payroll has been added to SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More
Colonie's 106 town police officers were the highest-paid group of local government employees in the Capital Region last year, averaging $94,810, according to the Empire Center’s 2015 “What They Make” report. Read More
Ramapo’s 104 police officers were paid an average of $173,361 last year, making them the highest-paid town police in New York, according to the Empire Center’s 2015 “What They Make” report. Read More
Oneida County paid its 1,825 employees an average of $41,795, more than the other five counties in the region, according to the Empire Center’s 2015 “What They Make” report. Read More
Syracuse's 789 uniformed police and fire employees were the highest-paid group of local government employees in Central New York last year, averaging $85,367, according to the Empire Center’s 2015 “What They Make” report. Read More