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Testimony
City Budget
Testimony to the New York City Charter Revision Commission
August 02, 2010
CBC submits this testimony to express our opposition to granting charter-mandated formula budgets to certain City offices, as doing so would be fiscally imprudent and would undermine the long-established process by which the Mayor and the City Council establish budget priorities as elected representatives.
Op Ed
Transportation
Keeping the City from Falling Apart
July 28, 2010
With the city's 2011 operating budget recently approved it is worth asking how well current budgets provide for repair and maintenance of our roads, bridges, tunnels, parks and other public infrastructure. The answer is disappointing.
Letter
Pensions & Benefits
CBC Encourages Governor Paterson to Veto Benefit Sweeteners
July 22, 2010
The fiscal realities of the time have not deterred the Legislature from advancing dozens of bills enhancing benefits for State and local employees and retirees. Three were already sent to you for consideration this week; another will be shortly. We are writing to ask that you veto them.
Op Ed
Housing
Rent Regulation: A Big Tax On NY
The Law Needs a Massive Overhaul
July 06, 2010
The push to continue rent regulation is fueled by far more populist rhetoric than economic reason. As a corrective, a new report by the Citizens Budget Commission reveals some startling facts about the current system.
Op Ed
Pensions & Benefits
Sickening 'Sweeteners'
June 28, 2010
Pension contributions this year will cost the state government alone $1.7 billion in fiscal year 2010-11 -- an amount already set to grow 85 percent, to $3.2 billion, by 2014. How much higher must it go before the Legislature puts the taxpayers ahead of special interests?
Testimony
City Budget
Testimony to the NYC Council Finance Committee on FY 2011 Executive Budget
June 07, 2010
As the City begins a fragile economic recovery, this financial plan presents a crucial opportunity to take actions that will place the City on a firmer fiscal footing and ensure its competitiveness for the long-term.
Op Ed
Economic Development
NY Needs to Create Jobs
June 02, 2010
Deputy Research Director Elizabeth Lynam penned an op-ed in the Albany Times Union that advocates for the overhaul of the State's economic development programs in order to capture true job creation with scarce resources.
Op Ed
Education
Give SUNY And CUNY Control Over Their Own Tuition
May 17, 2010
President Carol Kellermann pens an op-ed favoring the passage of the Governor's Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act, which would give SUNY and CUNY total control over setting tuition rates.
Letter
Economic Development
CBC Urges the State Legislature to Let the Empire Zones Program Sunset
April 12, 2010
This letter was written to urge the State legislature to allow the seriously flawed Empire Zones program to sunset as of June 30, 2010, as established by law, and to enact the Excelsior program as proposed by the Governor.
Op Ed
City Budget
Time for Prudence in City Benefits
April 10, 2010
Executive Vice President and Director of Research Charles Brecher pens this op-ed that discusses ways to rein in growth of the City's retirement benefits, notably pensions and health insurance.
Op Ed
State Budget
No More Aid for the Affluent
March 27, 2010
CBC President Carol Kellermann explains how the State can cut spending equitably in the three largest areas of the budget: Medicaid, education, and employee benefits.
Op Ed
City Budget
How to Save $2B Without Slashing City Services
March 03, 2010
Research Director Chuck Brecher outlines 5 alternative solutions for saving up to $2 billion in Mayor Bloomberg's preliminary budget. Each of these proposals would avoid widespread layoffs and the reduction of other vital services.
Op Ed
Education
What Mike Must Get From Teachers
January 31, 2010
President Carol Kellermann outlines what Mayor Bloomberg must accomplish in his negotiations with the Teachers' Union in order to get the vital reforms needed to fix the school system.
Op Ed
City Budget
City, State Budget Woes
January 16, 2010
CBC President Carol Kellermann writes a letter to Crain's urging the City to not avoid cost cutting in the face of better-than-expected tax revenue.
Op Ed
Transportation
The MTA: Who'll Pay?
December 02, 2008
This op-ed by CBC President Carol Kellermann and Research Director Charles Brecher proposes the most equitable division of responsibility for mass transit in the metro area. CBC believes that the appropriate balance among riders, car and truck drivers, and the general public (in the form of tax subsidies) is about 50/25/25.
Op Ed
State Budget
Budget Busters
August 18, 2008
CBC President Carol Kellermann discusses Governor David Paterson's offer of a menu of more than $1 billion in savings proposals from which he challenged legislators to select $600 million worth when they convened in Albany for a special session.
Op Ed
Pensions & Benefits
Paterson Must Veto Pocket-Picking Mandate
June 26, 2008
The Legislature recently passed a bill -- A9393A/S6457A -- that would prevent local officials from achieving savings in the skyrocketing cost of providing health insurance for government retirees and their dependents by prohibiting any reduction in benefits.
Letter
City Budget
Letter to the FCB on GASB 49 Requirements
Submitted to the Financial Control Board
April 29, 2008
Any deferral from meeting GASB 49 standards on pollution remediation should be limited to one year.
Op Ed
State Budget
Overhaul Prisons to Cut Costs
February 18, 2008
One place where the State can extract savings is in its prison system, an option that this op-ed discusses. New York simply does not need all 69 of its correctional facilities.
Op Ed
Transportation
Down Bound Train
October 28, 2006
In September 2006, Peter Kalikow, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, eliminated a five percent fare increase for subways, buses and train on the grounds that revenues are running ahead of schedule. CBC recommends two strategies: 1) a greater commitment to productivity enhancements in order to reduce the rate of cost increases and 2) increasing revenue.