The complete 2015 New York state government payroll is now posted on SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s government transparency website. Read More
Tag: Transparency
The Empire Center’s unique online “Explore Your State Budget” app has been updated to reflect financial data in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed 2016-17 Executive Budget. Read More
New Yorkers now can scrutinize more state pork-barrel spending details than ever, thanks to a newly expanded feature on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Recipient names and amounts for nearly 4,000 state grants totaling more than $600 million, including more than 500 approved on the final day of the 2015 legislative session, were added to SeeThroughNY today. Read More
Four dozen marine engineers and oilers for the Staten Island Ferry and city fireboats saw their ships come in last year — hauling in enough overtime to double their pay, city records show. The city Department of Transportation employed 37 ferry workers who netted more than $2.5 million in OT, according to an Empire Center analysis. Read More
Tim Hoefer joined Liz Benjamin to discuss Gov. Cuomo's veto of legislation that would have strengthened the Freedom of Information Law. Read More
The Empire Center for Public Policy, a fiscal watchdog organization for New York state government at all levels, has put out its annual "What They Make" report for municipal employees, and the results seem to indicate that Auburn city workers are getting paid well. Read More
The Empire Center, a fiscally conservative think tank, files thousands of so-called FOIL requests annually for public payrolls, pensions and other spending. It said the bills would have provided more teeth to hold state agencies more accountable to taxpayers. Read More
"I want the Legislature to understand that we're serious about reform." So said Governor Andrew Cuomo following his veto of two bills that would have strengthened New York's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)—helping citizens hold government, at all levels, more accountable. So if you can follow the governor's logic, before he could show us he was "serious about reform," he had to block a pair of reforms he had sitting on his desk. Read More