A glitch in state insurance law is allowing doctors to collect Medicaid fees that are sometimes hundreds of times higher than the program normally pays, costing taxpayers millions of dollars a year. Read More
Research
This year, for once, state lawmakers' failure to pass a timely budget could prove to be a stroke of luck. When President Trump rolled out his on April 2, Albany leaders had not agreed on a spending plan for Read More
Twenty-three New York State employees collected over $200,000 each in overtime, according to posted today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s government transparency website. Read More
New York's home health employment is continuing to soar, growing by 57,000 jobs or 10 percent from 2023 to 2024, according to newly released data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read More
Governor Hochul has further delayed what amounts to a tax on energy until after the next general election. Almost six years after the state adopted an aggressive emissions-cu Read More
A total of 522 local government employees in New York (outside New York City) were paid more than $300,000 during the 2023-24 fiscal year, more than double the previous year’s tally of 208. Read More
As Washington contemplates cutbacks to federal funding for Medicaid, officials in Albany have reacted in two self-contradictory ways. On one hand, they warn of Read More
New York for decades has collected, under various names, a special tax on mobile phones. The tax, which today shows up on customer bills as the “public safety communications surcharge,” devolved from being a fee to pay for 911 services to a general revenue source with 911 services as a near second thought. Since 2009, almost half the surcharges paid by customers for public safety communications—more than $1 billion—have been redirected to New York’s general fund. Read More
Andrew Cuomo picked a portentous day to launch his New York City mayoral campaign. Sunday was the fifth anniversary of his announcement, as governor, of the city’s first confirmed case of Covid-19. Read More
Every business owner in the state, looking at his or her own challenges, their tax bills, their regulatory burden, should be asking the question: How different would things be if my company was a politically favored project being announced by the governor? What favors would Albany do for me? What would Micron get? Read More
New York officials are celebrating the potential arrival of a major computer chip manufacturer. Applying "the Micron test" reveals many obstacles that other companies face. Read More
One of the biggest drivers of New York's Medicaid enrollment growth over the past decade has been "emergency Medicaid" for undocumented immigrants, newly released state records show. Read More