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Statement
State Budget
NYS Late Budget Fails to Reduce Structural Gap
$237B of Spending Approved without Providing Financial Plan Tables
April 20, 2024
Three weeks late, State lawmakers finally approved the budget and again have failed to publish basic financial plan tables that show New Yorkers essential details about how their money is being spent this year and the budget’s future impacts.
Statement
State Budget
Conceptual Budget Agreement Appears to Take State Further in Wrong Direction, Increasing Structural Gap above $16B
Lawmakers Should Show Basic Financial Plans
April 15, 2024
The two-week late “conceptual” budget agreement leaves New York State with a significant future structural budget gap likely exceeding $16 billion.
Statement
State Budget
Statement on Late NY State Budget for FY 2025, Need for Another Extender
April 11, 2024
Late budgets should still be good budgets. This final stretch should be short and produce a budget that is good for New Yorkers now and in the long run.
Statement
Pensions & Benefits
Statement on Proposed Tier 6 Benefit Sweetener as Part of State’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget
March 27, 2024
The proposed change to Tier 6 pension benefits, which will cost the State and local governments in New York nearly $400 million per year, is unnecessary, expensive, and should be rejected.
Letter
State Budget
Publish Basic Financial Tables with Budget Agreement
A Letter to Governor Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Heastie
March 27, 2024
When the budget agreement is reached this year, we urge you to publish basic, multi-year financial plan tables along with the budget bills.
Statement
State Budget
Statement on Medicaid/Managed Care Tax Proposal in NYS Budget Talks
March 26, 2024
The proposal to levy a new tax on Medicaid and other managed care plans to leverage $4 billion of federal money relies on speculative, temporary revenue to seed permanent spending increases.
Letter
State Budget
Watchdog Groups Thank Legislative Leaders for Rejecting Extraordinary Powers in Exec Budget; Urge Them to Hold Firm
A Letter to Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Heastie
March 25, 2024
We write to urge you to hold firm on rejecting the extraordinary budget powers during negotiations and ensure that they are omitted from the enacted budget.
Statement
State Budget
Statement on State One-House Budget Proposals
March 12, 2024
The Legislature's one-house proposals shift the budget discussion in the wrong direction. Both houses propose tax increases that would weaken New York’s already precarious competitive position.
Letter
State Budget
Watchdog Groups Urge Legislators to Publish Basic Financial Tables with One-House Proposals
February 26, 2024
We urge Legislators to publish basic, multi-year financial plan tables with their proposals to for the Fiscal Year 2024 Enacted Budget.
Letter
State Budget
Watchdog Groups Urge Legislators to Omit Extraordinary Budget Powers in One-House Proposals
A Letter to State Legislative Leaders
February 20, 2024
Reject proposal in Fiscal Year 2025 Executive Budget that gives the Governor extraordinary powers to spend and borrow unilaterally and without oversight by the Comptroller.
Op Ed
City Budget
Taking Control of New York’s Budgetary Future
Vital City
January 25, 2024
Budget season kicked off with an Albany-New York City doubleheader last week, with brightening skies in both places thanks to proactive efforts to cut costs (especially in the city) and a resilient economy that is bringing in higher-than-projected tax receipts.
Statement
State Budget
Statement on the New York State Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2025
January 16, 2024
While the budget takes some important initial steps to reduce spending growth, significant additional restraint will still be needed to close the State’s structural budget imbalance.
Statement
State Budget
Statement on Governor Hochul's 2024 State of the State Address
January 09, 2024
Governor Hochul rightly highlighted the importance of ensuring New York is attractive and affordable to businesses and residents and the need to protect New Yorkers from more tax increases.
Op Ed
State Budget
Priorities for Governor Cuomo's Next Budget
December 17, 2012
Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature have successfully tackled serious budget issues in recent years, but important challenges remain. These must be addressed in his next budget in order to improve the state's fiscal condition and give local governments better tools to manage their structural deficits.
Op Ed
Education
Stretching New York's Public Education Dollar
October 14, 2012
CBC President Carol Kellermann pens an opinion piece on the Huffington Post on how New York State's education dollars are spread inequitably among school districts and spent disproportionately on employee benefits, not on improving the quality of education.
Letter
Education
CBC Urges Veto of Costly Special Education Mandate
July 27, 2012
This letter urges Governor Cuomo to veto a bill that would allow for consideration of a child’s “home environment and family background” in determining special education placements. This provision has the potential to create significant costs for school districts.
Testimony
Education
Testimony to the Education Reform Commission
July 26, 2012
Simply put, the aggregate amount of money is not the problem. Rather, current funding needs to be re-targeted to reflect new priorities.
Op Ed
State Budget
Albany Handcuffs New York’s Cities
July 04, 2012
Local governments in New York are under serious and growing fiscal pressure, and the Legislature isn’t doing enough to ease the burden. Unfortunately, the Legislature seems oblivious.
Statement
Public Workforce
Statement on Tier VI Reforms
March 14, 2012
The bill that passed both houses of the State Legislature early this morning included important, beneficial changes in most components of the pension formulas that will determine benefits for future employees.
Op Ed
Pensions & Benefits
New York State’s Pension Plan
March 12, 2012
Deferrals of pension fund contributions by New York State and localities relies on unconvincing arguments by the State Comptroller that the plan is justified by the need for short-term relief from rising pension costs and that it is transparent.