Press Releases

Average per-pupil spending under proposed 2014-15 school budgets will increase by 3.2 percent, more than one-and-a-half times the 1.9 percent projected inflation rate, according to analysis issued today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More

Updated pension data for retired New York State public school teachers and administrators, released to the Empire Center pursuant to a landmark Court of Appeals ruling last week, were posted online today atwww.SeeThroughNY.net. Read More

Boosted in many cases by enormous overtime totals, the average pay of employees at the bi-state Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is among the highest found in any of the region’s large public-sector employers, as reflected in 2013 payroll records posted today at SeethroughNY.net, the Empire Center's transparency website... Read More

In a landmark case brought by the Empire Center with the support of major news media and good government watchdog organizations, the public’s right to know the identities of public pension recipients in New York will be at stake in arguments heard next week by the state’s highest court. Read More

Data available to the public under the state Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) would be proactively disclosed on the Internet under model legislation developed by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More

The complete 2013 fiscal year New York City payroll, which includes names and salaries for more than 475,000 full- and part-time employees, is now posted on SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center for Public Policy’s government spending transparency website. Read More