ALBANY, NY — The Empire Center for Public Policy today released a slate of policy recommendations that would make New York State a better place to live and work.
The report, Altered State: A Checklist for Change in New York State, includes fixes in seven major policy areas: taxes, job creation, public sector employment, health care, energy, education and government accountability. Taken together, the report is an outline to help create agrowing economy, a more efficient public sector, and new opportunities for an engaged and informed citizenry—all intended to reverse a dangerous exodus.
As remote work increases and states are better able to compete for talent, New Yorkers are weighing their options. They pay a steep price for public services in education, health care and other areas, and those trying to build businesses and create jobs often feel the deck is stacked against them by regulatory hurdles set higher than those in other states. New Yorkers will get a better bang for their buck under the report’s recommendations. And the business climate will brighten under its prescriptions for reducing red tape and easing the burden on job creation.
“Thousands of jobs, over a million people and billions of dollars in tax revenue have left New York over the past decade,” said Tim Hoefer, president and CEO of the Empire Center. “Our state is trapped in a cycle of loss—which will only accelerate absent change. We hope our recommendations will inspire policymakers to restore New York’s competitive edge.”
The Empire Center, based in Albany, is an independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan think tank dedicated to promoting policies that can make New York a better place to live, work and raise a family.
Two New York Police Department retirees each collected total retirement benefits of more than $600,000 last year—a new record high for the NYPD, according to data posted on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
However, unlike the pension systems covering all other public employees in New York State, the New York City Police Pension Fund refuses to identify its top two pensioners, or any of its 53,215 NYPD retirees receiving benefit payments that totaled $3.3 billion last year. Read More
Albany, NY — Governor Hochul's budget would allow Medicaid spending to continue spiraling at double-digit rates despite a growing economy and the threat of deep cuts in federal aid, warns Bill Hammond, Empire Center senior fellow for he Read More
New Yorkers by a margin of more than two-to-one said they aren’t getting their money’s worth from taxes they pay in the state, according to recent polling by the Empire Center for Public Policy in Albany. Read More
The Empire Center filed a pair of lawsuits this week charging the state Health Department with improperly withholding public records in violation of the Freedom of Information Law. Read More
A new analysis of New York’s Medicaid program reveals a ballooning disparity between its rising enrollment and the state’s declining poverty rates. As many as 3 million New Yorkers appear to be receiving state-sponsored health coverage from Medicaid or the Essential Plan despite having incomes above the eligibility limits, according to the just-published report from the Empire Center. Read More
The New York State Education Department has released data showing outcomes from New York’s 2024 state assessment tests, taken by students in grades 3 to 8 last spring. This is the third year in a row that state education officials have failed to release the data until well into the next school year. Read More
The payroll of The Research Foundation for The State University of New York grew more than twice as quickly as SUNY’s own payroll over the past five years, according to new data posted today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s government transparency website. Read More
The Board of Directors of the Empire Center for Public Policy today announced the appointment of Zilvinas Silenas as President and CEO.
Zilvinas (also goes by “Z”) will succeed Tim Hoefer, who joined the Empire Center in 2008 and has led the organi Read More