Local government is a labor-intensive business, and employee compensation is the single biggest element of most municipal budgets. Read More
Reports
The best of all possible energy worlds would be one in which energy is non-polluting, reliable and inexpensive. Unfortunately, nobody knows how to achieve all three goals simultaneously. Some advocates of renewable energy would have you believe th Read More
The tragic impact of the coronavirus pandemic in New York’s nursing homes has revived debate about how the industry operates. Read More
Voters will cast ballots on proposed budgets for school districts across New York State. The spending plans would collectively raise New York State’s highest in the nation per-pupil expenditure by 4.3 percent, and per-pupil school tax levies by 3. Read More
The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act) dramatically increases the state’s risk of a severe blackout event by 2040. Read More
New York State residents pay some of the highest local taxes in the nation. Read More
Proponents of “single payer” health care are pushing New Yorkers to take a multi-billion-dollar leap of faith. Read More
Despite the pandemic's costly and painful disruptions, most hospitals in New York and elsewhere ended their 2020 fiscal years in the black after receiving billions in relief from Washington, an analysis of their financial filings shows. Among repo Read More
New York taxpayers have been hit with enormous increases in pension costs for state and local government employees over the past 20 years. From less than $1 billion in 2000, combined annual employer contributions to the Empire State’s public pension funds escalated to nearly $10 billion by 2010, peaking at nearly $17 billion in 2015. Contributions have leveled off at roughly $16 billion in recent years—but under lenient government accounting standards, even that figure conceals the full long-term cost of generous, locked-in pension benefits for generations of retired government employees. Read More
A new Empire Center report reveals that the New York Medicaid program now covers more individuals above the poverty line than below it. Read More
Governor Hochul is promising to reform the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) in the wake of negative publicity arising from its role in the controversy over former Governor Cuomo’s book deal for “American Crisis.” It’s the latest incident to put JCOPE under the spotlight in its ten-year history. Read More
A climate law adopted by the State Legislature in 2019 requires that New York transition to alternative energy sources on an aggressive timeline. Read More