Tag: Legislature

With the clock ticking toward the April 1 start of the next state fiscal year, Assembly Democrats just laid out their budget preferences—and, as usual, they add up to a massive tax-and-spend fantasy. Read More

Under state law, the impasse means Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli will issue a revenue forecast on or before March 5. Legislators consistently push for higher numbers than the governor, but the current situation represents the first time in Mr. Cuomo’s three-term gubernatorial tenure that he and the Legislature have been unable to reach consensus. “It means they are getting off to a testy start, but it doesn’t mean they are doomed and they are not going to be able to do a budget,” said E.J. McMahon, research director at the Empire Center for Public Policy, a fiscally conservative think tank. Read More

“The Legislature has the power to reduce any appropriation proposed by the governor, or eliminate it, and there’s nothing he can do about it. They’ve never wielded this power or even threatened it. I don’t know why. Maybe they’re so addicted to spending," said E.J. McMahon, research director at the Empire Center for Public Policy, a state budget watchdog group. Read More

Even as Governor Cuomo pushes for required insurance coverage of in vitro fertilization, he is withholding a study of how much the coverage would cost for premium payers. Read More

The Comprehensive Contraception Protection Act, which is speeding toward passage in Albany, is typically portrayed as protecting women. As a practical matter, though, some of its prime beneficiaries will be condom buyers who are predominantly male. Read More

A recommended 64 percent pay increase for New York’s state legislators would give lawmakers the highest inflation-adjusted salary in the nation and in state history. Read More

Some nonpartisan advice for Albany's Class of 2018 on how it can avoid getting sucked into the swamp—and maybe leave state government in better shape than they found it. Read More

According to the Empire Center — an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank based in Albany — the state Senate spends over $3 million in bulk postage, while the state Assembly spends approximately $2.7 million. That is almost double what it was from a year ago. Read More