Reports

Most school board members in New York's largest school districts were elected with teachers' union support and many are themselves teachers' union members. Read More

New York’s plan to steer homeowners and landlords toward electric heat could backfire due to high costs and practical concerns Read More

School districts have used more than 400 special meetings—votes held outside the regular May and November election days—since 2011 to approve nearly $9 billion in spending, including about $2 billion last year.  Read More

New York’s first wave began weeks earlier than recognized at the time, and its infection rate likely peaked in mid-March. Read More

Absenteeism was and remains particularly problematic for students in high school, Black and Hispanic students, and special education students. Read More

Despite ongoing pandemic-related disruptions, New York’s hospitals bounced back financially in 2021, posting their strongest balance sheets in five years or more.  Read More

The U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 ended New York’s decades-long practice of forcing state and local government employees to pay a labor union as a condition of employment. Read More

Last Spring, students statewide in grades 3-8 sat for annual state assessments to measure proficiency in English language arts (ELA) and math. Read More

Overview New York has adopted a statutory goal that 100 percent of new passenger car and truck sales be zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs) by 2035. Ultimately, the only way to accomplish this goal will be to prohibit sales of Read More

Union advocates have argued that employees of the New York State Legislature are covered by the Taylor Law, the 1967 state law that requires state and local public employers, including state agencies, municipalities, and school districts, to recogniz Read More

New York’s property tax rates are generally among the highest in the nation. Specific property tax burdens vary widely throughout the state. Read More

To help New Yorkers compare certain basic fiscal measures for local governments, the Empire Center has calculated effective property tax rates and per-capita values for the spending, debt and tax levels throughout the state. Read More