Albany’s practice of doling out millions in “bullet aid” to certain school districts at the behest of favored legislators has become a familiar ritual of pork-barrel politics. But a little-noticed provision of this year’s budget directs $30 million to a single nursing home in the Bronx, which is unusual even by the standards of New York State government. Read More
New York's 2 percent local property tax levy cap has passed another important legal test, prevailing in the state's mid-level appeals court over a constitutional challenge from the state's largest teachers' union. Read More
Governor Cuomo’s $15 minimum wage plan will cost the state’s Medicaid program more than $100 million over the next two years, according to figures in a budget analysis released Wednesday by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. Read More
Whether they know it or not, New York State taxpayers are locked in a high-stakes partnership with a billionaire whose high-tech business empire has been "fueled by his voracious appetite for risk and unyielding confidence." Read More
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has promised — loudly, proudly and publicly — that New York state will overspend on public works projects. Read More
"Southern Tier Soaring" is the slogan Governor Andrew Cuomo has assigned to his job-creation program for the most economically troubled region of upstate New York. Better make that "Southern Tier Sinking (Further)." Read More
Among the nation's four most populous states, New York is better prepared than California to weather the next recession—but not as well-prepared as Florida and Texas, according to fiscal stress test results from Moody's Investor Service. Read More
The full extent of the continuing rise in school spending since the recession was not inevitable or unavoidable. Read More
The rate of private sector job creation in major upstate metro areas remained very low during the 12-month period ending in March, according to the latest state labor statistics. Read More
New York under Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been able to tame Medicaid costs by bringing together service providers and health care unions to find ways to save money. But Medicaid patients themselves can also play a bigger role in that process. Read More
NY must do more to encourage its Medicaid patients to take ownership of their own health. Read More
New York's new state budget includes the biggest permanent "middle class" income tax cut in 20 years. Gov. Cuomo and the Legislature can pay for it by restraining spending and enacting more tax reform. Read More