Month: December 2010

Employee compensation in the state and local government sector increased at twice the private-sector rate during the 12 months ending in December, according to national data released todayby the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read More

Employment statistics can tell us a lot about what’s going on in New York’s economy — but traditional government data don’t tell us much about the underlying forces driving job creation. Information on openings and closings, expansions and contractions, and interstate movements at the employer level has not been as readily available. Read More

Tax-funded employer contributions to New York’s state and local government pension funds are about to rise sharply. What will be the impact on budgets, taxes and public services? Are New York’s public pensions adequately funded? What can be done to curb pension expenses while fairly balancing the interests of taxpayers and employees? The presentation of a new Empire Center report answers these questions -- culminating in a keynote from a Utah state lawmaker who has been a national leader in state pension reform. Read More

The only proven route to long-term and lasting property-tax relief in New York is property-tax limitation - such as capping the annual growth in school-tax levies, Empire Center for Public Policy Director E.J. McMahon said in testimony today before state Assembly lawmakers. Read More

President Obama is expected to unveil his national health-insurance plan in just a couple of months. But when it comes to expanding government-subsidized coverage, broke and recession-battered New York state has already gotten a jump on him. Read More