A news release from Governor David Paterson he is proposing "significant spending reductions" in the he is releasing today. If only it were true. The net budget "reductions" sought by the governor consist largely of cuts in projected baselin Read More
School districts on Long Island and across New York State dodged a bullet last month when the legislature rejected Gov. David A. Paterson’s call for a midyear cut in K-12 education aid. But their luck is about to run out. Read More
The Utica school board ratified a new teachers contract in September 2008--even though school business officials could not tell them how much it will cost future taxpayers. Now, the district says it has calculated the cost, but it refuses to make it Read More
Nearly 29,000 Syracuse-area residents have lost their jobs and the inflation rate is flat so you'd think that might give school board members pause. Yet, the 10 school districts in the area that settled contracts in the year or so si Read More
Some thoughts on Governor Paterson's today that he expects his forthcoming 2010-11 Executive Budget to result in a 2011-12 "surplus" of $1 billion that he will propose using for "property tax relief" in the form of a new "circuit-breaker" income tax Read More
When Gov. Paterson delivers his annual message to the Legislature tomor row, “the state of the state” will be painfully obvious. Read More
In a to the New York Post this morning and again in an Upper West Side protest, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn repeated her demand that the MTA spend $100 million in money earmarked for capital investments on its operating expenses Read More
The Municipal Market Advisors research firm expects "record municipal borrowing of up to $450 billion in 2010," largely because of "the generous subsidy" offered by the federal government as part of the Obama administration's spring 2009 stimulus pl Read More
Daily News columnist Bill Hammond that the Empire Center's new Blueprint for a Better Budget, which proposes $30 billion in savings over three years, should be "required reading for Gov. Paterson and all 212 members of the Legislature," an Read More
New York State is broke. Like a runaway train, New York's budget is in danger of running completely off the rails. It needs to be brought under control—before it's too late. Read More
New York local governments, including New York City, share the cost of social services and Medicaid, which elsewhere are borne mainly at the state level. Nonetheless, New York's state government spends considerably more than the national average, a Read More
New York is running out of cash, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli today. The situation would be worse if Governor Paterson had not , prompting the New York State United Teachers union to file a against him. But don't worry-- will soon be bailing us Read More