The Empire Center, a fiscally conservative think tank, files thousands of so-called FOIL requests annually for public payrolls, pensions and other spending. It said the bills would have provided more teeth to hold state agencies more accountable to taxpayers. Read More
Sheldon Silver, who lost his seat in the State Assembly after he was convicted of seven federal felonies on Monday, has filed paperwork to receive a state pension. Analysts at the Empire Center, a fiscally conservative think tank, said it could be $98,010 a year. Read More
With his career in public service over, ex-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver promptly filed for retirement Tuesday — a day after his conviction on corruption charges. Silver stands to get a pension of as much as $98,000 a year because of his 44 years of public service and a salary that had reached $121,000 when he was collecting his base salary of $79,500 a year and $41,500 as speaker, the Empire Center estimated. Read More
Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, convicted of seven felonies this week, could collect as much as $98,010 in yearly pension payments, according to one Albany watchdog. Read More
It will be déjà vu all over again Monday for a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge, as lawyers for the city and a municipal pension fund argue that basic data about correction officer retirement payouts should be secret. The session before Justice Peter Sweeney will be the latest legal stonewalling in cases that stretch back almost six years to the day that the Empire Center, a taxpayer watchdog, filed a Freedom of Information Law request for the names of public pensioners and their annual payments. Read More
State officials have not released formal estimates of how much revenue will be available for next year's spending plan, ignoring a 2007 law that was designed to bring transparency to the budget process. Read More
Hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars goes towards cars for state Assembly members. Last year, the state spent almost $300,000 of your tax money on cars issued to members of the state Assembly. There are 11 elected Assembly members, eight Repu Read More
As the cold weather moves in, more and more New York residents move out. They used to call them snowbirds, but each year tens of thousands now stay long after the snow flies. There are two big reasons, weather and taxes, and one government watchdog group says its costing New York State. Read More