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Pandemic, recession don’t bring down school budgets

Stephen T. Watson This year's school elections were delayed and then shifted entirely to voting by mail thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, which also shut down schools here and across the country. District officials worried this new method of Read More

The good, the bad and the ugly in Cuomo’s budget

“We are at the early stages of what shapes up as the biggest state and city fiscal crisis since the Great Depression,” said E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center. “Borrowing and short-term cuts aside, the budget doesn’t chart any clear path out of it.” Read More

Medicaid cuts make the state budget, with some tweaks

Bill Hammond, director of health policy at the conservative-leaning think tank the Empire Center, suggested this is because the proposed cuts are meant to slow the otherwise rapid growth in Medicaid spending, which means an increase is still possible.  Read More

It’s never simple arithmetic with schools

Earlier this week, the Empire Center did its own report on the plummeting numbers when it comes to students. Overall, the 2019-20 enrollment is at its lowest levels in New York state in the last 30 years. Read More

‘Pork’ Bill Hangs Over Other Issues in Albany

E.J. McMahon, research director for the Empire Center for Public Policy, a fiscally conservative think tank, questioned the need for these projects. His organization found recent SAM allocations paid for projects he deemed frivolous such as a skate park and a local highway garage. “It’s this huge mutual back-scratching,” he said. Read More

Capitol Pressroom: Gov. Hugh L. Carey Policy Forum

In recent memory, New York’s budget negotiations typically end with the good, the bad, and the big ugly. Is it time to change the way the state budget is negotiated? We recapped this morning’s event on the topic with EJ McMahon, Founder and Research Director of the Empire Center, and former Assemblyman Richard Brodsky. Read More

EDITORIAL: Pork fund a waste of taxpayer money

The Empire Center for Public Policy earlier this week came out with its regular update on how much New York state government spends on local projects that have little to do with state needs like infrastructure and social programs and more to do with helping local state legislators get re-elected. Read More

Report says move start of state fiscal year, add budget office

Moving the start of the state fiscal year to July 1 and establishing a Legislative Budget Office are among the recommendations of the Empire Center to improve accountability in the budget process. Read More