

The (apparently) agreed-upon version of Governor Cuomo’s “Tax Free NY” proposal includes a new name for the thing: “SUNY Tax-free Areas toRevitalize and Transform UPstate New York,” or START-UP NY.
It’s easily Albany’s most convoluted concoction of verbiage in search of an acronym since the fiscally and grammatically regrettable “Learning-Achieving-Developing-by-Directing Education Resources” program, or LADDER, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s school aid initiative in the late 1990s.
About the Author
E.J. McMahon
Edmund J. McMahon is Empire Center's founder and a senior fellow.
You may also like

Emails Confirm That Cuomo’s Staff Launched Its ‘Book’ Project in March 2020
A pair of state-employed writers began researching, outlining and drafting a book about Governor Andrew Cuomo's pandemic response in late March 2020, weeks before New York's harrowing first wave had passed, according to newly disclosed email records. Read More

NY school spending again led US, hitting all-time high in 2020-21
Public elementary and secondary school spending in New York rose to $26,571 per pupil in 2020-21, according to the latest Census Bureau data Read More

A Tale of Two Levies
New York school districts are getting record levels of state aid. But how many are using it to cut taxes? Read More

A Politically Active Medical Group Gains Access to Funds for ‘Distressed’ Providers
A politically connected medical group in the Bronx garnered an unusual benefit in the new state budget – access to money previously reserved for financially troubled safety-net hospitals and nursing homes. Read More

Albany’s Belated Budget Binge
State lawmakers have begun passing the bills necessary to implement the state budget for the fiscal year that began April 1. Read More

Hochul’s ‘Pay and Resolve’ Push for Hospitals Triggers Déjà Vu
Two years ago last week, I wrote in the Daily News about how then-Governor Andrew Cuomo was pushing a costly change to insurance law on behalf of a hospital group that had supported his campaign through a fund-rai Read More

Courts set a limit on NY’s tax reach
Just in time for tax season, New York State's tax agency just lost a major legal challenge to its policy of pursuing maximum income tax payments from wealthy vacation homeowners—even when they live elsewhere. Read More

DiNapoli aims to curb NY’s borrowing binge
Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has unveiled a new proposal for constitutionally curbing the state’s seemingly uncontrollable appetite for borrowing. Read More
A Tale of Two Levies
- May 16, 2023
Albany’s Belated Budget Binge
- May 2, 2023
Courts set a limit on NY’s tax reach
- February 23, 2023
DiNapoli aims to curb NY’s borrowing binge
- January 31, 2023