The left-of-center Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) was absolutely wrong in pushing to raise New York’s minimum wage — but absolutely right about the problems with the state “minimum wage reimbursement credit.” Bad policy begets more bad policy (so, FPI guys, you ultimately have yourselves to blame!). Read More
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has announced a “fiscal stress monitoring system” to provide an early warning of problems in local governments and school districts, which can only be a good idea... Read More
The Citizens Budget Commission has posted some nifty charts breaking out the difference between New York State and the U.S. averages for different categories of public elementary and secondary school spending. One noteworthy data point: between 1999 and 2009, spending per pupil on employee benefits for instructional staff rose 169 percent in New York... Read More
New York’s economy grew at barely half the rate for all 50 states in 2012, according to newly released federal data. The Empire State’s share of real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was up 1.3 percent last year, compared to 2.5 percent for all states (and 1.5 percent for the northeast as a whole). Read More
New York’s new “stable option” pension gimmick for local governments and school districts is “a stopgap with long-term risks,” Moody’s Investor Service warned this week. Read More
The Tax Foundation has posted a nifty interactive map depicting “Migration of Personal Income” among the states. Based on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data, the foundation says net migration from New York between 2000 and 2010 translated into a net loss of $45.6 billion of income. Read More
Following through on Speaker Silver’s promise earlier this month, the Assembly is reportedly about to introduce a bill raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 an hour, with automatic increases thereafter in line with the cost of living. As we’ve noted here before, this is a swell way to reduce job opportunities for low-skilled, entry-level workers — and it’s not a very effective way of helping the working poor, either. Read More
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has joined Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in advocating an increase in the state minimum wage. Unlike Silver, Bloomberg in his State of the City message was at least willing to acknowledge that the minimum wage discourages hiring–specifically, that it “can reduce youth employment.” His solution? Read More