I want to begin today by commending the state Senate for its passage last month of Governor Cuomo’s property tax cap bill. In years to come, the Jan. 31 vote may be seen as a turning point, a historic first step towards lasting relief for New York’s taxpayers. Read More
Like Madison, Wisconsin, the scene of so much recent debate, Albany began this year facing an enormous budget gap for fiscal 2011-12. Read More
Gov. Cuomo’s budget deal with the Legislature is not quite the “transformation plan” he spoke of just two months ago. Read More
New York’s expensive Medicaid program provides generous long-term care benefits to a large number of recipients. Although Medicaid eligibility is means-tested, with limits on both income and assets, the program nevertheless pays for most professional long-term care services in the state. Read More
Another Tax Day brings with it yet another unher alded and unlegislated income-tax increase for middle-income New Yorkers. Read More
While Gov. Cuomo stumped the state this week in support of (among other things) his proposed cap on local property taxes, Speaker Sheldon Silver said the Assembly would soon introduce its own version of a tax-cap bill -- one with “not too many” exceptions. Read More
One day after seeming to agree to an acceptable compromise on Gov. Cuomo’s proposed 2 percent cap on property-tax levies, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver yesterday seemed to be sticking a poison pill in the fine print. Read More
In his opening message to the Legislature, Gov. Andrew Cuomo pointed out that public-pension costs are “exploding” across New York state. Read More