Addressing the possibility of mid-year cuts in school aid, which Senate leaders are pledging to avoid, Governor Paterson is quoted in today's Newsday as saying: "Seventy-one percent of the resources we spend on education are administrative. We can make a lot of cuts ... without touching the classroom or affecting teachers." Read More
Governor Paterson went before a congressional committee today to a federal stimulus package to aid financially troubled states--including this pitch for added funding for infrastructure repair: We in New York have many programs involving Read More
Governor David Paterson is right on the money in calling for "bold and aggressive action to reduce state spending" to deal with the severe and worsening fiscal crisis detailed in today's . At this point, after months of dire warnings, there's hardl Read More
From my presentation at yesterday's Manhattan Institute "Market Meltdown" conference, a chart depicting the 10-year trend in public pension fund contributions by New York State and City taxpayers: Pension contributions over the past eight years ha Read More
After wavering on the issue in recent weeks, Governor Paterson today seemed to rule out tax increases as part of the solution to the state's growing budget problem -- at least for the next 18 months. "I don't think there should be any taxes at thi Read More
The seemingly slapdash nature of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed $2 billion education bond was reinforced during Tuesday's budget address when the gambit got a makeover. Read More
E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center for Public Policy, gave testimony on Monday at the 2014 Joint Legislative Budget Hearing on taxes. Read More
Governor Cuomo’s 2014-15 Executive Budget would devote more resources to initiatives described as “tax cuts” than any state budget we’ve seen in quite a few years. This in itself is an encouraging sign of the recognition that New York needs to do more to shed its reputation as a high-cost, high-tax state. Read More