Even when economic development deals produce jobs, the question remains: How much of that activity would have occurred anyway without taxpayer dollars? The Citizens Budget Commission has called for an overhaul of the state’s economic development program, citing research by senior economist Timothy Bartik at the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research that described New York’s programs as the costliest in the nation.

Drivers will foot part of the bill for building the new Mario Cuomo Bridge, with tolls potentially doubling, according to estimates from a fiscal watchdog released Friday.

The Citizens Budget Commission projected tolls reaching $10 on the state’s latest construction marvel, which replaced the Tappan Zee Bridge between Westchester and Rockland counties. Gov. Cuomo is keeping tolls frozen until 2020.

Yet another independent review confirms a warning we’ve made for years: Paying the bill for the new Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge may well mean doubling the toll to $10.

Tolls on the $4 billion replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge may have to double to pay for it.

That is according to a policy brief from a nonpartisan watchdog group that crunched the numbers on the recently opened Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, facing billions of dollars in federal cuts to two health programs, said that public hospitals across the state, including New York City Health + Hospitals, will have to make due with less money than their executives anticipated.

"We know today we don't have enough money to pay every public hospital 100 percent," Cuomo said. "What percent can we pay? We're not sure."

Patrick Orecki, a research associate with the Citizens Budget Commission, agreed that the city should receive the money. "The payments in question have already been earned for services rendered and should be released when earned," he said.

If the extension expires as scheduled on Sunday, hospitals in New York state will immediately start losing about $60 million a month in funding.

“There’s this chunk of money that was originally scheduled to phase out under the Affordable Care Act,” says Charles Brecher, senior advisor for health policy at the Citizens Budget Commission. The idea was that as more people got insured under Obamacare, hospitals wouldn’t need as much in additional compensatory payments.

The Citizens Budget Commission has come out with the kind of analysis that state legislators should read before they vote on the next round of increases for state aid to education.

Katz will need the mayor's support to bring financial stability to the health system, said Carol Kellermann, president of fiscal watchdog Citizens Budget Commission.

"The increases are primarily in permanent programs staffed by new employees," said CBC President Carol Kellermann. "And when the economy turns down, it will be difficult to cut them."

Attracting new patients and insurance enrollees is pivotal to the financial turnaround of New York City’s Health + Hospitals unit, according to the watchdog Citizens Budget Commission.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing New York plan has seen great progress since its inception, NYC Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer told a meeting of the Citizens Budget Committee on Wednesday.

City Housing Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer said Wednesday that "parochial interests" shouldn't stop the city from upzoning neighborhoods in pursuit of its affordable housing goal.

"We are pushing ahead on area-wide rezonings," she said during a breakfast hosted by the Citizens Budget Commission.