Research

The attorney general's just-filed lawsuit against the Villages of Orleans nursing home has implications that reach far beyond a single facility in western New York. In addition Read More

One lesson of the pandemic is that, as profligate as the Empire State is when it comes to spending money, it has yet to learn to do it well.  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

After remaining for months on the fate of the proposed two-year moratorium on crypto-mining, Governor Kathy Hochul has now the bill into law, as her admi Read More

A pandemic-related study recently published by the state University at Albany's School of Public Health is marred by factual errors, inconsistencies and methodological issues that raise doubts about its findings – and questions about the process by which it was reviewed. Read More

Christakis remarked on the website that graduate students, now moving to unionize at the school, are not ordinary worker. Read More

If a government agency loses $11 billion, do New York’s legislators make a sound? That’s the question in Albany after Comptroller Tom DiNapoli issued his investigation into what was likely the most expensive administrative mishap in state hist Read More

Overtime payouts to New York City government employees rose by more than one-third last year. The City paid out a total of $2.44 billion dollars in overtime in Fiscal Year 2022, a 36 percent increase from the prior year’s total of $1.8 billion. Read More

An audit report shines some overdue light on New York’s handling of unemployment insurance claims it paid out during the Covid-19 pandemic.  Read More

If the power goes out under a fully municipalized LIPA, you can bet neither the Legislature nor public power advocates will accept the blame. Read More

A large share of the state’s Medicaid budget is flowing to personal care, or non-medical services provided to the elderly and disabled at home. Read More