Month: January 2021

A whole lot of people moved out of New York state after last year’s COVID-19 outbreak and government-imposed lockdown restrictions. Read More

New York can have 100 percent zero emissions electricity in 2040. But it can’t have enough of it to keep the lights and the heat on. Read More

Thanks mainly to a pandemic-driven boost in its already high outflows to other states, New York has just suffered its largest single-year population loss ever—and the worst, in percentage terms, of any state in the p Read More

Kyle Davis will focus on increasing the Empire Center’s presence in Albany, building relationships with elected officials, and strengthening coalitions Read More

With judicious use of her veto pen this month, Governor Hochul could draw a line against spiraling health expenses for consumers and taxpayers. Several health insurance-related Read More

New York’s state and local taxpayers are saving more than $1 billion this year thanks to public pension changes enacted a decade ago Read More

New York taxpayers have been hit with enormous increases in pension costs for state and local government employees over the past 20 years. From less than $1 billion in 2000, combined annual employer contributions to the Empire State’s public pension funds escalated to nearly $10 billion by 2010, peaking at nearly $17 billion in 2015. Contributions have leveled off at roughly $16 billion in recent years—but under lenient government accounting standards, even that figure conceals the full long-term cost of generous, locked-in pension benefits for generations of retired government employees.  Read More

New Yorkers should be on high alert in the wake of a new study issued last month concerning the ambitious climate law signed by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in July 2019 that mandates goals and timetables for the state’s transition from fossil fuels to r Read More