Wednesday, the legislature passed its ethics reform bill. "As far as I'm concerned, this bill is a long time coming," said Senator Eric Schneiderman. The legislature went ahead with its ethics reform package, despite Governor Paterson's warning Read More
Gov. David A. Paterson's proposed $134 billion "budget of necessity" confronts the reality of the fiscal crisis facing New York. Facing a $7.4 billion deficit in the next fiscal year, state leaders have to hold the line on spending. The proposed b Read More
It was just a week ago that we posted a list of the budgeted salaries for all school superintendents across the state. Now we're adding a companion database that contains all Western New York school district employees who earned $100,000 or more in 2 Read More
When the Utica Board of Education approved retiree health-care benefits for a large group of teachers 16 months ago, it had no idea what the added burden to taxpayers might be. Now, officials do know — and the price tag is staggering. For its Read More
I’m very fond of Belleayre. It was built in 1949 by the State of New York. I have a picture of my mother and myself standing outside the lodge about eight years later, when I was 10 years old. Except for the funny old-fashioned clothes, it doesn Read More
The Long Island Power Authority Thursday rescinded a previously approved plan to give most of its employees 2 percent pay raises for 2010, officials said. At a LIPA trustees meeting where interim chairman Howard Steinberg was formally named chairm Read More
New York has not always had the distinction of being the only state with a fiscal year that begins April 1. The start date was changed from Oct. 1 to July 1 in 1916. It has been April 1 since 1943, but now there is a push from some lawmakers to chang Read More