Month: October 2014

New York State is in the process of collecting more than $5 $6 billion in fines and penalties from financial institutions accused of violating state or federal laws.* What should the state do with this unprecedented windfall?  That's Read More

On John Gambling's radio show this morning, Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos reiterated his warning that President Obama's executive order on immigration could cost the state as much as $2 billion. “Our estimates are conservative,” Skelos said. But Skelos' numbers, which he has used to warn of potential cuts to other programs, appear to present a worst-case scenario for the state budget from the president's order, which could add thousands of previously undocumented immigrants to the state's Medicaid rolls. Read More

Four years ago, as Andrew Cuomo prepared to begin his first term as governor, the biggest problem facing New York state was how to close a $10 billion budget gap. This year, gearing up for his second term, Cuomo faces quite a different challenge: what to do with roughly $5 billion in extra cash. Read More

With the stroke of a pen, President Barack Obama has just put added pressure on the second-biggest category of New York’s state operating funds budget—Medicaid. Obama’s recent executive order on immigration could drive up New York’s Medicaid costs by $1.1 billion to $2 billion, state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos warned in a letter yesterday to the state’s U.S. senators. Read More