New York State spends billions of dollars to entice companies to move to New York and create jobs. But in tonight’s New York State Exposed report, we’re asking if we are getting a return on that investment with your tax dollars. Read More
Category: Media Coverage
New York’s highest-paid union workers will be the chief beneficiaries of a tax break slipped into the state budget that makes their dues fully tax-deductible, an analysis has found. Read More
New York State legislators spent $7 million in taxpayer funds to mail newsletters to constituents ahead of last year’s elections, according to a new report. State senators spent $3.8 million of that for bulk mailings and the Assembly members spent $3.2 million for the postage costs, from April 1 through Sept. 30, 2016, according to SeeThroughNY, a government-spending database published by the Empire Center. Read More
E.J. McMahon, president of the fiscally conservative Empire Center, contended that the state's unions have "a huge and very costly impact on public policy." He said public salaries and benefits are "basically the tail that wags the public-sector dog. The other half are employed largely in either construction or in health care, both of which are heavily dependent on government subsidies." Read More
For all its populist design, the House GOP’s latest proposal to overhaul federal Medicaid funding creates financial risks for states and could leave some enrollees worse off. Read More
Jefferson County would save about $20.5 million, according to a report prepared by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Lewis County would save about $5.2 million, Oswego County about $25.6 million and St. Lawrence County about $25 million. These costs chew up more than 30 percent of property tax levy for Jefferson and Lewis counties, and more than 50 percent of the property tax levy for Oswego and St. Lawrence counties — that’s a huge chunk of money for these counties. Read More
Cuomo’s efforts to hide the increase were first reported by Ken Girardin, an ace analyst at the Empire Center in Albany. Girardin has calculated that the renewable and nuclear subsidies will cost ratepayers nearly $3.4 billion between 2017 and 2021. Girardin told me that Cuomo’s attempt at an extreme makeover of the state’s electric grid will result in “one of the largest tax hikes in state history.” Read More
One tantalizing idea emerged during the debate over repealing “Obamacare” — the Collins-Faso amendment to the now-pulled American Health Care Act. Read More