The state Assembly has not released expenditure reports for a full year, according to the Empire Center for Public Policy. The reports included details of members per diem reimbursements. But the last one made public was for the period ending in March of 2014. The Empire Center's Executive Director, Tim Hoefer, joined us to discuss this lack-of-transparency issue. Read More
In what's becoming annual tradition, a handful of bills increasing pension benefits for groups of public employees passed in New York's Legislature this year. Read More
The Assembly paid $1.1 million to 130 members for costs related to “legislative duties” performed in Albany between April and September 2014, according to data posted today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center's transparency website. The data was released more than eight months after the end of the reporting period, an unusually long amount of time. Read More
State lawmakers have given a real boost to government transparency and the public's right to know by voting to speed up the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) process. Read More
Even with its former leader facing corruption charges, the state Assembly won’t disclose how its members are spending tens of millions of taxpayer dollars, a government watchdog charged on Friday. Read More
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative leaders huddled behind closed doors Monday to find still-elusive deals on a range of matters as a corruption-weary Capitol looks to end the 2015 session. Read More
The state Assembly has not released expenditure reports, including per diems paid to lawmakers, for more than a year, according to the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
On the state Senate floor, Liz Krueger and John DeFrancisco have become the Capitol’s premiere variety show, their colleagues say, engaging in lengthy debates that have inspired some fellow lawmakers and grated on others. Read More