Against a backdrop of tense times among police, protesters and elected officials, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is weighing a controversial bill that would alter disciplinary procedures for cops. Read More
Category: Media Coverage
If anyone still thinks Gov. Cuomo is serious about addressing New York’s economic woes, two ideas he rolled out this week should put a quick end to that fantasy. Read More
From cheese museums to Little Leagues to sororities, Gov. Pataki and state lawmakers have secretly approved nearly half a billion dollars worth of barely scrutinized pork-barrel projects over the past three years, it was revealed yesterday. For the first time, the list of nearly 23,000 projects totaling about $479 million was made public yesterday on a Web site, https://updates.empirecenter.org, by the Empire Center for New York State Policy, the research arm of the Manhattan Institute. Read More
While Cuomo called his plan a tax cut, critics said the credit would merely shift state income taxes to help defray local property taxes. "He's shifting more of the burden to the income tax rather than changing policies" that drive up spending, said E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center for Public Policy, a nonprofit think tank that promotes free-market policies. "You're also encouraging more localities and school districts to increase taxes to the tax-cap limit and they can say to residents: 'Don't worry, you'll get it back.' " Read More
When it comes to school taxes, no one pays more per student than New York taxpayers. You can point to a number of reasons for that. One of them, according to watchdog groups, is the power of NYSUT - the New York State United Teacher Union. Read More
It's the new year, U.S. Congress has opened its 114th session and the New York Legislature is back in Albany to do the people's work. Your applause is deafening. Read More
If you could vote to reduce your taxes by about 25 percent, but doing so meant you would be responsible for almost doubling what your neighbor pays, what would you choose? Read More
The highest earning school official in the Mohawk Valley raked in nearly $200,000 last year. That’s almost $20,000 more than Gov. Andrew Cuomo grosses. It’s about three times as much as Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri makes. Read More