Reciting a litany of economic challenges facing New York soon after he took office as governor a year ago, Andrew M. Cuomo declared: "We have the worst business tax climate in the nation, period." Read More
Research
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver wants to raise the state's minimum wage by 17 percent, to $8.50 an hour, and link it to inflation, guaranteeing more yearly increases. Read More
The governor’s tax hike will harm New York’s competitiveness. Read More
Nicole Gelinas has a must-read op-ed in the New York Post raising questions about Governor Cuomo’s plan to rely on public-private partnerships (PPPs) to finance infrastructure and economic development projects in New York. Read More
One of the most pernicious aspects of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's proposal to hike the minimum wage is his bid to index the future minimum wage to inflation Beginning in 2014, the state would automatically hike the new $ Read More
New York’s combined state and local sales tax rate is the seventh highest in the nation, according to a new report from the Tax Foundation. Read More
Following through on Speaker Silver’s promise earlier this month, the Assembly is reportedly about to introduce a bill raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 an hour, with automatic increases thereafter in line with the cost of living. As we’ve noted here before, this is a swell way to reduce job opportunities for low-skilled, entry-level workers — and it’s not a very effective way of helping the working poor, either. Read More
Over at Streetsblog, they’re talking Tappan Zee — wondering why Gov. Cuomo won’t release any new information about the financial plan for the multi-billion-dollar bridge (no, nobody knows how many billions, but probably more than six and less than twenty) until after asking contractors for proposals. Read More
New York's K-12 education spending has a recent "historical pattern" of increasing 5.3 percent a year, according to the state Education Department. Read More
Just-released November indicate that Medicaid spending was within Governor Cuomo's new cap through the first two-thirds of fiscal 2011-12 -- but just barely.The $15.3 billion cap on state-funded Medicaid spending within the Department of H Read More
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver may seek a pay hike for members of the New York State Legislature before the year is out, today’s New York Post reports. New York part-time lawmakers now make a base salary of $79,500 a year, plus $171 for every day in Albany and added stipends for leadership positions and committee chairmanships. Read More