Research

A whole lot of people moved out of New York state after last year’s COVID-19 outbreak and government-imposed lockdown restrictions. Read More

Thanks mainly to a pandemic-driven boost in its already high outflows to other states, New York has just suffered its largest single-year population loss ever—and the worst, in percentage terms, of any state in the p Read More

New York can have 100 percent zero emissions electricity in 2040. But it can’t have enough of it to keep the lights and the heat on. Read More

With judicious use of her veto pen this month, Governor Hochul could draw a line against spiraling health expenses for consumers and taxpayers. Several health insurance-related Read More

New York taxpayers have been hit with enormous increases in pension costs for state and local government employees over the past 20 years. From less than $1 billion in 2000, combined annual employer contributions to the Empire State’s public pension funds escalated to nearly $10 billion by 2010, peaking at nearly $17 billion in 2015. Contributions have leveled off at roughly $16 billion in recent years—but under lenient government accounting standards, even that figure conceals the full long-term cost of generous, locked-in pension benefits for generations of retired government employees.  Read More

New Yorkers should be on high alert in the wake of a new study issued last month concerning the ambitious climate law signed by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in July 2019 that mandates goals and timetables for the state’s transition from fossil fuels to r Read More

The December 6 meeting of the Climate Action Council made one thing clear – the Council has no intention of figuring out how much the state’s headlong rush to renewable energy will cost New York utility customers.  Read More

New York's share of the nation's income millionaire households continued to fall in 2019 Read More

A new Empire Center report reveals that the New York Medicaid program now covers more individuals above the poverty line than below it. Read More

Governor Hochul is promising to reform the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) in the wake of negative publicity arising from its role in the controversy over former Governor Cuomo’s book deal for “American Crisis.” It’s the latest incident to put JCOPE under the spotlight in its ten-year history. Read More

Recent contracts to fuel more than a third of New York City’s electricity grid will raise electricity bills for upstate ratepayers up to 9.9 percent. Read More

A climate law adopted by the State Legislature in 2019 requires that New York transition to alternative energy sources on an aggressive timeline. Read More