Although the botched Affordable Care Act (ACA) rollout is shaping up nationally as a political and bureaucratic disaster, the Cuomo administration is warning New York health insurance agents and brokers not to try to get around the new Obamacare requirements for small group health plans here. Read More
New York’s highest court has just ruled—not for the first time—that Article VII, Section 8.1 of the State Constitution does not mean what it seems to say in prohibiting gifts and loans of state money “to or in aid of any private corporation or association, or private undertaking.” Read More
Eliot Spitzer did some huge favors for the state’s largest public employee union when he was governor, so it’s no surprise that the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) has endorsed him in his race for New York City comptroller. Read More
Based on initial reports of Governor Cuomo’s pension deal with the Legislature –no defined-contribution option,* more marginal changes in other benefit levels for traditional defined-benefit pensions– the union reaction is absurdly (if predictably) over the top. Read More
Without discussing details, Governor Cuomo did not flatly contradict or deny aWall Street Journal report that he is considering some sort of personal income tax “overhaul” that would combine a middle class tax cut with some sort of increase in tax rates for upper-income households. Read More
A bill implementing a larger New York City income tax hike than the one proposed by Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio has been introduced in the Legislature by state Sen.Adriano Espaillat, a Democrat representing upper Manhattan and the Bronx. Read More
In promoting his twin panaceas for the upstate economy—casino gambling and tax-free zones on college and university campuses—Governor Andrew Cuomo hasn’t minced words about the region’s mediocre economic performance. “We’re on the third generation of people giving the speech and writing the story” of upstate’s decline, he said at one recent news conference. Read More
Governor Cuomo’s third State of the State address included a laundry list of potentially pricey initiatives, ranging from an extended school day to a state-subsidized venture capital fund. We’ll find out how he intends to pay for it all next Tuesday, when he presents his 2013-14 Executive Budget plan, which will need to close a budget gap projected at nearly $1 billion without even assuming any new programs. Read More