For Immediate Release

Contact: E.J. McMahon, 518-434-3100

ALBANY — Lise Bang-Jensen, longtime Capitol journalist and former co-host of public television’s “Inside Albany” program, has joined the Empire Center for Public Policy as a senior policy analyst. Her appointment was announced today by Edmund J. McMahon, director of the Empire Center and senior fellow for tax and budgetary studies with the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.

“We are delighted that Lise Bang-Jensen is bringing her communications skills and vast knowledge of state government to the Empire Center,” McMahon said. “Lise’s experience, insights and ability to explain complex topics in plain language will be invaluable to the Center as we seek to strengthen and expand the scope of our work.”

McMahon said Ms. Bang-Jensen will be focusing on issues relating to cost and quality of public services in New York, and on improving transparency and accountability in state and local government.

Ms. Bang-Jensen was co-host of “Inside Albany” for nearly 20 years before the program went off the air in 2007. Prior to her career in public television, she was a State Capitol reporter for the Albany¬ Knickerbocker News from 1981 to 1987. A native of Washington, D.C., she was raised in suburban New York. She is a graduate of Skidmore College and earned a master’s degree in communication arts at Cornell University.

The Empire Center is a non-partisan, independent think tank.

Based in Albany, the Empire Center conducts policy research on government finances, health, social services, education and other issues affecting New York’s quality of life, economic growth and competitiveness. During its first three years in existence, the Center has issued reports and research bulletins on topics including the state budget, New York’s population drain, taxes, public pension reform, health care and collective bargaining. It has also sponsored or co-sponsored a series of policy forums on these and other topics.