In early April, Governor Andrew Cuomo and his fellow Democrats in New York’s legislature agreed to a record $209 billion budget that will raise taxes by billions of dollars a year on the state’s top earners and most profitable corporations—even though higher taxes were no longer needed to make up for pandemic-driven revenue losses.

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Every business owner in the state, looking at his or her own challenges, their tax bills, their regulatory burden, should be asking the question: How different would things be if my company was a politically favored project being announced by the governor? What favors would Albany do for me? What would Micron get? Read More

Can New York Survive a Cuomo Comeback?

Andrew Cuomo picked a portentous day to launch his New York City mayoral campaign. Sunday was the fifth anniversary of his announcement, as governor, of the city’s first confirmed case of Covid-19. Read More

Hochul invites havoc as wildcat prison strikes spread

A central provision of New York state law — its prohibition on public-employee strikes — is at risk of breaking into pieces, as Gov. Hochul frantically tries to tape the shards back together. Read More

NY’s own researchers warn of state’s off-the-charts school spending

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Hochul’s mad Medicaid spending woos health honchos

Perhaps the most damning commentary on Gov. Hochul’s Medicaid spending plan — which made up roughly half of the $252 billion state budget she released Tuesday — was the silence of the attack dogs. Last year, the hospital lobby spent millions on TV ads falsely accusing Hochul of “cutting” the state-run health plan, which covers 7 million lower-income New Yorkers. This year, the ad campaign has gone quiet, a sign she is giving hospitals everything they could want and more. Read More

New York Is a Cautionary Tale on Home Care

Fans of ’s “Medicare at Home” proposal should study up on New York’s bloated home healthcare system, which covers about 850,000 people. Its large scale and rapid growth embody a cent Read More

Hochul bows to health-worker union’s $9B senior-care power play that could bust NY’s budget

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Another Voice: Albany’s MTA congestion pricing battles have implications for Western New York

Gov. Kathy Hochul has taken blistering criticism for postponing congestion pricing, a long-planned $15 toll on drivers entering lower Manhattan meant to reduce traffic — and collect $15 tolls. Most of the drama may be playing out in New York City, but pay attention, upstate: you stand to lose — or win — in this fight. Read More