So much for “no means no.” That’s the message from the state Court of Appeals, which ruled last week that New Yorkers don’t need an excuse to cast an absentee ballot by mail when they’re otherwise able to vote in person — even though the voters themselves have directly rejected such a measure. Read More
Approaching the fifth Labor Day weekend since the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020, most regions of New York have yet to recover the private-sector jobs lost in the wake of pandemic lockdowns—and the Empire State trails far be Read More
For the fourth time in six years, the president of New York's largest health-care union, George Gresham of 1199SEIU, has won the top spot on the "Labor Power 100" list from Cit Read More
The authors of a report on New York's pandemic response are barred from discussing their findings with media under a provision of their contract with Governor Hochul's office, records obtained by the Empire Center conf Read More
Well-founded or not, a majority of New Yorkers who voted in 2021 had misgivings on the merits of no-excuse absentee voting. They rejected the same scheme the Early Mail Voting Law now imposes. They voted to maintain the status quo of the prior 55 years and their will should prevail because the Early Mail Voting Act is unconstitutional as a matter of legal interpretation and the history and tradition in New York's Constitution. Read More
New Yorkers will to vote this November on Ballot Proposal 1—a proposition to amend equal protection clause of the state Constitution. If approved by the voters in November, Prop One’s changes to the state’s equal protection laws could throw New York civil rights into turmoil. Read More
New York's per capita Medicaid spending jumped 14 percent in 2023, moving it further ahead of the rest of the country, recently released nationwide data show. In the federal fiscal year that ended last September, New York spent $94.6 billion Read More
A new report from New York’s electric grid operator highlights the uncertainty around the state’s plan to power most of the economy using wind turbines and solar panels. Read More
just announced that the state will hold a “Future Energy Economy Summit” next month, at which “global experts [will] discuss the role of next generation clean energy technologies and strategies to accelerate renewa Read More
Setting high educational performance standards linked to content-rich curriculum and tying teacher preparation and professional development to those standards are the keys to boosting achievement levels for all public-schoo Read More
The spectacular breakup of a wind turbine off the coast of New England is highlighting a huge risk embedded in New York State’s strategy for achieving its green energy “Net Zero” targets. Read More
Editor's note: This post is the first adapted for the Empire Center by its new adjunct fellow, Roger Caiazza, who has a long and deep private industry background in environmental regulatory analysis and compliance. His frequently Read More