Most news coverage of yesterday's budget vote reflected the approach of today's New York Times headline: "Albany Lawmakers Pass Big Cuts in Health Care." In fact, net of those cuts, the state-funded share of Medicaid spending will increase this year... Read More
The House has passed the White House's request for an extension of the Build America Bond program 'till 2012, and the Senate is getting there. Just what state, local, and the federal government need: more "cheap" debt, thanks to an implicit federal... Read More
Warren Buffett had this to say before Washington's Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission yesterday (via Bloomberg) about the debt of state and local governments: "There will be a terrible problem and then the question becomes will the federal government help... Read More
New York has the second most progressive distribution of federal income taxes among the 50 states, according to a new analysis from the Tax Foundation. From the Tax Foundation's Fiscal Fact: Taxpayers earning more than $200,000 earned 40 percent of... Read More
Many if not most New York City teachers will continue receiving automatic longevity pay increases despite Mayor Michael Bloomberg's announcement today that he will "eliminate raises" for them in the next budget. In fact, as illustrated... Read More
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli yesterday issued a happy talk news release touting the state retirement system's 26 percent return on investments in fiscal 2009-10, which ended March 31. “The Fund remains one of the strongest in the U.S.,” DiNapoli said. Read More
The Greek debt crisis has inspired economist Michael Boskin to lay out some fundamental lessons that are equally applicable to our own federal and state governments. Quoting directly from this article by Boskin, the lessons are: elected officials systematically... Read More
"The New NY Agenda" is the title of a policy booklet issued yesterday by Andrew Cuomo, the soon-to-be nominated Democratic gubernatorial candidate. If that title sounds familiar, it's because "New, New York" (including that all-important comma after the first "New")... Read More