The Buffalo Niagara region’s slow but steady job growth stretched into March. Read More
Category: Media Coverage
E.J. McMahon, director of the conservative think tank Empire Center for Public Policy, criticized the budget for pledging millions in discretionary funds, something he called “one of the many deals reached behind closed doors.” Read More
The change from a credit to a rebate check is more aimed at helping the state's ledger to pay for new spending in the state budget, such as a $1 billion income-tax cut, said E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center, an Albany-based conservative think tank. "Every year, it’s actually going to steadily erode the apparent cost of STAR because every year, as houses change hands, more and more of STAR will shift from the spending side to the revenue side of the budget," he said. Read More
The state budget will fund other projects that members of the Legislature undoubtedly will tout at some point. The Empire Center, a fiscally conservative Albany think tank, highlighted on Friday a $385 million increase to the State and Municipal Facilities Program, a pot of general capital project funding that is derided by critics as being opaque and overly broad in terms of the types of projects can be funded. "When you say what's the local impact? My answer is I have no idea," the Empire Center's E.J. McMahon said. "It's not programmed. It's capital pork." Read More
Critics complained of a “slush fund” for pols’ favored projects. “The program is essentially a $1.5 billion credit card that lawmakers and the governor use to pay for pet projects,” said Ken Girardin, policy analyst for the Empire Center, a government watchdog. Read More
While a majority of upstate New York counties have lost residents in recent years, Jefferson County is among a small handful that saw population increases between 2010 and 2015, according to a recent study from the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
Ever wonder how the Port Authority spends its take from soaring tolls? Promise not to jump off a PA bridge, then take a peek at some crazy new data on what the authority’s paying employees. One PA cop, Joseph Macaluso, pulled down a whopping $348,095 last year. That’s right: $348,095 for a cop. A chief maintenance supervisor, Stephen Olmo, raked in $325,880, including $186,846 in overtime. It sounds surreal. But data just released by the Empire Center show that the average PA employee got $100,253 last year, up from $97,673 in 2014. Read More
When the New York budget is approved next week, it will likely not include a discount for frequent users of the New York State Thruway. The legislature has rejected Governor Cuomo’s plan to use some of the state’s surplus to subsidize tolls. Read More