On the heels of Governor Paterson's gloomy budget update, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli the state's Common Retirement Fund has lost 20 percent of its value since April 1. That would translate into a drop of $31 billion from the March 31 level Read More
Governor David Paterson is right on the money in calling for "bold and aggressive action to reduce state spending" to deal with the severe and worsening fiscal crisis detailed in today's . At this point, after months of dire warnings, there's hardl Read More
From my presentation at yesterday's Manhattan Institute "Market Meltdown" conference, a chart depicting the 10-year trend in public pension fund contributions by New York State and City taxpayers: Pension contributions over the past eight years ha Read More
After wavering on the issue in recent weeks, Governor Paterson today seemed to rule out tax increases as part of the solution to the state's growing budget problem -- at least for the next 18 months. "I don't think there should be any taxes at thi Read More
As shown below, the highest-earning 1 percent of taxpayers (those with incomes above $750,000 or so as of 2007) accounted for nearly 40 percent of New York's total state income tax liability last year -- up from around 27 percent in the mid-1990s. � Read More
The seemingly slapdash nature of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed $2 billion education bond was reinforced during Tuesday's budget address when the gambit got a makeover. Read More
A new state Senate Majority report on burdensome state regulations provides more backup for the Empire Center’s recent call to reform New York’s environmental planning review process. Read More
Newly released Census estimates show New York is still the nation’s third most populous state, barely ahead of Florida. Read More