Tag: Taxes and Spending

Cuomo to break spending limit

In 2011, Cuomo decided to cap growth in education spending at the rate of New Yorkers' personal income growth, and he cut state aid accordingly for the 2011-12 school year by $1.3 billion. In 2012-13, personal income grew about four percent, and Cuomo and the Legislature awarded an $800 million increase, the maximum allowed under the cap. “The cap is not real. I don't think the cap is ever going to be real again,” said E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center, a fiscally conservative think tank. “I don't think it ever was binding. I think it was a convenient pretext in the governor's first couple of years and increasingly is going to be disregarded.” Read More

Instead of Gimmicks, Lower Costs

  • by E.J. McMahon
  • Wall Street Journal
  • December 19, 2013
  • Commentary

Unfortunately, Mr. Cuomo so far has been unwilling to combine the tax cap with meaningful local-mandate relief, especially public-sector collective-bargaining reforms that would give county executives, mayors and school boards more tools to live within the cap. Read More