“Upstate would need to do a really significant reset of the way government is funded and what it spends, and upstate politicians have not exactly been clamoring for the reforms that it would take to make that happen,” said E.J. McMahon of the Albany-based Empire Center for Public Policy, a conservative think tank. Read More
Health care was the dog that did not bark at Governor Cuomo's combined State of State and budget address on Tuesday. Instead of announcing a major plan to expand coverage, he called for appointing a commission to study "options for achieving universal access" and report back by December – a clear sign that he has no stomach for tackling the issue in this session. Read More
There has been a sharp and growing economic divide between upstate and downstate. Read More
New York doled out $22,366 for each elementary and secondary schoolkid — 90 percent higher than the national average of $11,762, according to Empire Center research director E.J. McMahon. Read More
New York hospitals cost more and have lower quality on average than the rest of the nation, a new report finds. Read More
Last week we slammed the new state budget as an exercise in financial recklessness. But the bad news is still rolling in. Read More
New York’s Obamacare program reached a new high, with more than 4.3 million people signing up for healthcare coverage, state officials announced Thursday. The 2018 totals marked an increase of about 700,000 people from a year ago, officials said. Read More
The state-mandated hourly compensation of construction workers on New York public works projects generally rose by double the 17 percent inflation rate over the past decade-but most of those added dollars did not boost workers' pay, according to "prevailing wage" schedules for major building trades. Read More