Four years of on-time budgets is an accomplishment Governor Andrew Cuomo loves to mention, but this year could be different. Cuomo is pushing lawmakers to adopt stringent ethics legislation as part of the budget agreement. If they don't reach a deal by the April 1 deadline, a government shutdown is possible. Read More
For Silver, who has served 38 years as an assemblyman, that would mean a $87,120 annual pension — or an estimated total $1.15 million over his expected life span, according to the Albany-based think tank Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
School costs can’t be allowed to grow faster than the income of the taxpayers. That’s true of all government spending for every societal need. But when it comes to building roads, housing or protecting the environment, you don’t really hear a roar of influential voices making a perpetual argument that no matter how much we spend, it is nowhere near enough. With schools, you always do. But this year Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is trying to change that. Read More
If Glick is really looking for an unseemly message about public school pay, maybe she should take a look at what the city and state are coughing up for teacher pensions. New data from the Empire Center for the Public Policy shows the number of teachers receiving six-figure pensions in New York nearly tripled between 2009 and 2014. Read More
The number of teachers and administrators raking in six-figure annual pensions in New York state nearly tripled between 2009 and 2014, according to a new report. Data from the Empire Center for Public Policy, an Albany-based think tank, show that more than 4,800 school retirees were eligible to receive pensions of more than $100,000 in 2014, up from 1,600 in 2009. Read More
The city’s elevator repair bills are going through the roof. Each of the 3,330 elevators in the city’s housing projects goes out of service an average of once a month, officials said. Elevator failures and shutdowns for maintenance — along with huge raises for elevator mechanics — have caused costs to skyrocket. Read More
A new report finds that nearly 5,000 New York teachers are being paid six-figure pensions courtesy of tax payers. Read More
Five years ago, a taxpayer watchdog invoked the state Freedom of Information Law and started a court battle for access to the names of retired public employees who are collecting pensions, along with the amounts of their payments. Read More