#NYCoronavirus: With state revenues crashing and joblessness skyrocketing, more than a third of the New York state government workforce is scheduled to get a 2 percent pay raise in less than a week. Read More
Tag: NYPandemicResponse
#NYCoronavirus: In the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, New York's death toll appears to be rising at a faster rate than any other state and most other countries. Read More
#NYCoronavirus: While daily life has been disrupted, essential functions must go on amid the coronavirus crisis—including the budgeting process for the state’s nearly 700 school districts. Read More
His appointed Medicaid Redesign Team II is holding its final meeting on Thursday. A draft report obtained by the Empire Center for Public Policy describes $1.6 billion in projected savings through proposals like capping enrollment in managed long-term care plans and changing eligibility requirements for personal care services. Read More
"Everyone in the private sector is worrying if they are going to be laid off, if their pay is going to be cut," said E.J. McMahon, research director at the right-leaning Empire Center in Albany. Read More
#NYCoronavirus: As they make their now-routine announcements about new cases of coronavirus, some New York health officials have been publicizing the public places and events that the infected people visited, to put others on notice about their own possible exposure. This is a useful and no-cost strategy for flattening the curve that other agencies should follow. Read More
#NYCovidCrisis: As the old saying goes, the stock market is not the economy—but in New York, it's an extra-big chunk of the economy, and of the state tax base as well. The ongoing pandemic-driven carnage on Wall Street is a big reason why Albany's tax receipts are expected to fall at least $7 billion short of Governor Cuomo's original budget estimate for FY 2021. Read More
With much of New York’s economy shut down and millions of taxpayers likely to depend on federal “emergency support” payments to make it through, an immediate pay freeze for all state and local government employees is a must. Read More