Testimony

The past year has been a roller-coaster ride for New York’s health care system, as Congress tried repeatedly to scale back Medicaid and dismantle the Affordable Care Act while allowing other health-related programs to lapse. Because New York depends so heavily on federal health dollars, it had more to lose than almost any other state in all of those fights. Read More

Governor Cuomo’s 2014-15 Executive Budget would devote more resources to initiatives described as “tax cuts” than any state budget we’ve seen in quite a few years. This in itself is an encouraging sign of the recognition that New York needs to do more to shed its reputation as a high-cost, high-tax state. Read More

The Great Recession and its aftermath have brought obvious, ongoing strains to finances at every level of government. What we have been experiencing for the past five years is something new and unprecedented in the post-World War II era: a prolonged period of slow growth with pronounced disinflationary tendencies. Read More

This committee has chosen an opportune moment to review New York’s state tax code and consider reform options. Wall Street, the state’s cash cow for 20 years, is now retrenching. And in an era of slower economic growth, many businesses will be less willing to shoulder costs they can avoid by moving elsewhere. Needless to say, by various measures, most states can offer a lower-cost environment than New York. Read More

This testimony discusses one key proposal of the Governor’s Human Service Budget – managing the SSI State Supplement. As part of his SFY 2012-13 Executive Budget, Governor Andrew Cuomo has included a long overdue initiative for the state to take over the administration of New York’s Supplemental Security Income (SSI) state supplemental payment from the federal Social Security Administration. Read More

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