Cuomo's claims are likely overstating the immediate impact of the deduction cap, said E.J. McMahon, founder of the Empire Center, a fiscally conservative think tank in Albany. It's simply too soon to know if people have fled the state because of the so-called SALT cap, McMahon said. Read More
Research has found that prevailing wage requirements increase the cost of construction. In New York, a 2017 report released by the Empire Center for Public Policy found that prevailing wage requirements inflated the cost of publicly funded construction projects in the state by 13 to 25 percent. Read More
“Now that consumers are paying for the tax, it’s not punishing the pharmaceutical companies,” said Bill Hammond, director of health policy with the Empire Center for Public Policy. “The alleged wrongdoings has become a pretext for raising money and grabbing cash. I’m not saying we’re not spending any money, but if you looked at the budget you wouldn’t know we were at crisis levels.” Read More
Bill Hammond, director of health policy for the fiscally conservative Empire Center for Public Policy, acknowledged the negative ramifications of Trump's spending plan for New York, but dismissed the possibility of the "draconian" cuts being adopted. Read More
"It's utterly, completely unlikely to happen in any way, shape or form," said Bill Hammond of the fiscally conservative Empire Center think tank. Read More
E.J. McMahon, chief researcher for the Empire Center for Public Policy, said the Assembly proposal amounts to "tax and spend fantasy." Read More
DiPietro's proposal is one of several just this year to broach the subject. While the conversation seems to come in cycles, E.J. McMahon from the Empire Center for Public Policy believes it's picked up because Upstate lawmakers are frustrated by policy and diminishing influence. "Upstate's representation in the Legislature is primarily comprised of powerless Republicans. Upstate has virtually no representation among the statewide elected officials, again except for the lieutenant governor who is somebody picked by the governor," McMahon said. Read More
Bill Hammond, director of health policy at the Empire Center for Public Policy, said that the state has legitimate reasons for improving the way the home-care program is run and reeling in its fiscal intermediaries. Read More