On the whole, New Yorkers can breathe a sigh of relief if the state Senate’s gridlock forces an early end to the 2018 regular session of the Legislature. Otherwise, the next two weeks will still leave plenty of time for lawmakers to get up to no good. Read More
As a 19th-century Manhattan politician once observed, “no man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the Legislature is in session.” Some things never change. On balance, New Yorkers would probably be better off if this year’s legislative session ended ahead of its scheduled June 21 adjournment. Read More
Health insurers’ rate applications for 2019, which became public late Friday, raise red flags about the condition of New York’s non-group market. Read More
In addition to being one of the wedge issues that paralyzed the state Senate this week, the Comprehensive Contraceptive Coverage Act is also an insurance mandate. And like the dozens of other mandates pending in Albany, it’s being debated without a clear analysis of costs and benefits. Read More
Marking the Taylor Law's 50th anniversary, this paper reviews the background of the law and highlights provisions and precedents in need of state legislative reform. Read More
Earlier this year, Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed a new disclosure standard requiring that details of proposed government union contracts be shared with the public before ratification. Unfortunately—and not for the first time—the governor has failed to meet the standard himself. Read More
Molinaro’s rhetoric made it all sound obvious — and easy. In fact, New York faces real financial constraints that’ll limit options for whoever occupies the governor’s office starting next January. Read More
Among New York school districts with enrollments of 4,000 or more, the list of highest property taxes per pupil is what you’d expect — topped by Great Neck, Scarsdale, Syosset and Bedford. In fifth place is a somewhat less wealthy outlier: the Northport-East Northport district. It will raise $28,556 per pupil in property taxes next year, based on data from the state’s 2018-19 Property Tax Report Card. That’s 57 percent above the Suffolk County average. Read More
The newly revealed federal probe of Crystal Run Healthcare, a large doctors group in the Hudson Valley, fits a common pattern with Albany scandals: It's not just about bad behavior but also bad policy. Read More
New York surpassed all states with per-pupil elementary and secondary school spending of $22,366 per pupil as of 2016, according to the latest U.S. Census data. Read More
Year-over-year private-sector job growth in New York continued along a familiar path last month—stronger downstate than upstate, and somewhat weaker overall than the national average. Read More
In the wake of Tuesday’s school budget votes, 16 school districts around New York must decide whether to call for a second referendum after seeing their original proposals rejected. Read More