Average per-pupil spending under proposed 2014-15 school budgets will increase by 3.2 percent, more than one-and-a-half times the 1.9 percent projected inflation rate, according to analysis issued today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
The state Court of Appeals sided with the Empire Center for Public Policy and held that the names of state and local government retirees receiving pensions are subject to public disclosure. Read More
Boosted in many cases by enormous overtime totals, the average pay of employees at the bi-state Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is among the highest found in any of the region’s large public-sector employers, as reflected in 2013 payroll records posted today at SeethroughNY.net, the Empire Center's transparency website... Read More
For national Sunshine Week, the Empire Center for Public Policy did its part to help make New York a brighter place. Every day a new effort was highlighted. Read More
New York’s State Senate spent almost $45 million during the six-month period ending last September, according to the latest data available at SeeThroughNY, where the Empire Center for Public Policy maintains public records dating back to 2007. Read More
In a landmark case brought by the Empire Center with the support of major news media and good government watchdog organizations, the public’s right to know the identities of public pension recipients in New York will be at stake in arguments heard next week by the state’s highest court. Read More
Data available to the public under the state Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) would be proactively disclosed on the Internet under model legislation developed by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
New York’s estate tax will hit a growing number of middle-class households, small business owners and farmers, and is needlessly hindering economic growth while giving the state’s wealthiest households an added incentive to migrate, according to a report released today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More