Gov. Kathy Hochul has taken blistering criticism for postponing congestion pricing, a long-planned $15 toll on drivers entering lower Manhattan meant to reduce traffic — and collect $15 tolls. Most of the drama may be playing out in New York City, but pay attention, upstate: you stand to lose — or win — in this fight. Read More
Anyone wondering how New York consistently has the nation’s highest public school spending but below-average student outcomes got a succinct explanation from Albany earlier this month. Read More
So much for “no means no.” That’s the message from the state Court of Appeals, which ruled last week that New Yorkers don’t need an excuse to cast an absentee ballot by mail when they’re otherwise able to vote in person — even though the voters themselves have directly rejected such a measure. Read More
It’s a pity New York cannot power its economy on hubris, but state officials this week gave it a try. Read More
A state-ordered study of New York’s pandemic response has finally appeared, and it’s shaping up as a minor disaster of its own. Read More
Three years after boosting New York State’s top tax rate to its highest level since 1981, Democratic majorities in both houses of the Legislature have united behind a plan to raise personal income taxes even higher on Empire State income millionaires. Read More
Amid all the bipartisan noise, however, most Empire State tax filers may have noticed something interesting: their federal tax bills haven’t changed much at all. Even in highly taxed New York suburbs, most home-owning families with children are feeling a smaller federal tax bite. Read More
Gov. Hochul faces a challenge that will define her legacy as the state’s executive. To succeed, she must do absolutely nothing. Read More