Governor Paterson is reportedly close to striking a deal with state employee labor unions under which the governor will drop his plan to layoff off over 7,000 state workers in exchange for the unions' acquiescence to (a) Read More
Tag: Taxes and Spending
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
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
These boots were made for walking, as the song goes. Unfortunately for New York, they’re walking right out of the state, with the latest Census figures showing Florida about to overtake us as the nation’s third-most-populous state. 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
The Empire Center’s Explore Your State Budget app has been updated to reflect financial data in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed 2014-15 Executive Budget. Read More
E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center for New York State Policy in Albany, said that governors for at least 30 years have used state agencies to fund staff in the executive chamber as a way to conceal the true size of the governor's staff. But having state authorities like NYSERDA, which is funded by utility fees, pay for the governor's staff, is taking that a step further. "I think it's another degree of inappropriateness," McMahon said. "It's just another way of using an authority as a cash cow." Read More
In the eyes of many Broome County residents, nursing homes and transportation services are essential government functions that should remain in public hands. More than 80 people gathered Thursday in the meeting hall at the American Legion Post 80, 75 Main St., Binghamton., to speak out against the possibility of privatizing B.C. Transit or the Willow Point Nursing Home. Read More