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Blog
City Budget
What to Look for in the Mayor’s Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2017
April 24, 2016
Asks 8 questions about the New York City Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2017 relating to revenues, spending, Health + Hospitals, reserves, the Citywide Savings Plan, the State budget, and the capital commitment plan.
Blog
Education
State School Aid Increases: Anything But Progressive
April 14, 2016
Examines state school aid increases under the New York State Enacted Budget for Fiscal Year 2017.
Blog
State Budget
How NYS Government is Getting More “Lean”
April 03, 2016
Review the early results of the New York State Lean Initiative, a process improvement strategy that empowers employees to identify and cut unnecessary red tape and improve customer service.
Blog
State Budget
NYS Budget Deal: Return of Big Spending?
March 31, 2016
State leaders have adopted a timely budget for fiscal year 2017, but may have sacrificed fiscal discipline for expediency. Given the lack of transparency in the process, it is unclear how the State is limiting State operating fund growth to 2 percent.
Blog
State Budget
A Step Backward on Medicaid Funding
March 24, 2016
New York’s policy of requiring counties and New York City to pay a sizable share of Medicaid costs is out of step with other states and results in an inequitable distribution of Medicaid costs among New York taxpayers. In 2005 the State capped the growth in the local share of Medicaid, which was a step in the right direction. In 2012 the State began a phased takeover of local share growth—a further improvement. However, the 2017 Executive Budget proposes to reinstitute New York City’s contribution toward growth in Medicaid expenses, which would be a giant step backwards.
Blog
State Budget
Heading the Wrong Way on the Thruway
March 23, 2016
Governor Andrew Cuomo proposal to provide nearly $2.3 billion of State funds from bank settlements to subsidize the New York State Thruway Authority would reverse a long-standing practice of funding the Authority from toll revenue and would put New York taxpayers on a course for financing road and bridge infrastructure that makes little economic or fiscal sense.
Blog
State Budget
The Rational Funding Plan for SUNY and CUNY Should Be Extended
March 21, 2016
Why reauthorizing a rational funding plan for the State University of New York (SUNY) and the City University of New York (CUNY) to raise tuition makes sense.
Blog
State Budget
STARC Story
Why New York State Wants to Keep $600 Million of New York City’s Sales Tax Revenue
March 16, 2016
The Governor’s Executive Budget for FY 2017 proposes to divert to the State $600 million of New York City’s sales tax revenue on the grounds that the City misused that amount of State sales tax revenue. The controversy involves debt of a specially created local authority, the Sales Tax Asset Receivable Corporation (STARC).
Blog
State Budget
Pass Governor’s Proposal to Reform State Retiree Health Insurance Benefits
March 13, 2016
State of New York retirees with more than 10 years of service receive health insurance benefits substantially more generous than those offered by private sector and most public sector employers. Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Executive Budget for FY2017 includes a fair proposal to reduce these growing costs, and the Legislature should adopt it.
Blog
Public Workforce
What’s Happening at Your Fire Station?
March 09, 2016
What's your local fire house up to? Hint: Likely responding to something other than a fire. Reviews changing workload of FDNY.
Blog
State Budget
Legislators Refuse to End Medicaid Spousal Refusal
February 28, 2016
Each of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s six Executive Budgets has proposed to repeal a provision of Medicaid known as “spousal refusal;” each time the proposal has been rejected by the Legislature. This provision permits a spouse or parent to “refuse” to provide financial assistance for the spouse or child, enabling a family member to receive Medicaid funded services regardless of the family’s wealth or income. The Legislature should end this costly and unfair practice.
Blog
Public Workforce
Increase Ambulance Service for Less Money
February 24, 2016
The trend toward increasing medical calls will continue as the City’s population increases and residents age. Filling ambulance tours on overtime is analogous to treating a serious medical condition with a temporary bandage. Future strategies to increase EMS capacity should be more extensive and more creative.
Blog
City Budget
An Insufficient Savings Plan
February 24, 2016
Mayor Bill de Blasio's FY2017 budget proposal increased city-funded spending by $2.7 billion and included a Citywide Savings Program, or CSP, it was small relative to the size of the budget and savings programs of past years and insufficient to meaningfully offset the cost of new initiatives or to boost reserves.
Blog
Capital Spending
Design-Build Contracting
A Way to Fix More Bridges for Less Money
February 17, 2016
State legislators should enable New York City to benefit from design-build contracting: if it realized savings on par with the State’s experience, the City could save $2 billion over 10 years.
Report
Energy & Environment
Can We Have Our Cake and Compost It Too?
An Analysis of Organic Waste Diversion in New York City
February 02, 2016
This report examines the feasibility and the cost of options for expanding the Department of Sanitation's organic waste program.
Blog
State Budget
A Poorly Targeted State School Aid Proposal
January 21, 2016
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2016-17 includes a 4.3 percent increase in total school aid; this reviews how the funds are allocated.
Blog
State Budget
Report Card: NY State Executive Budget, FY2016-2017
January 20, 2016
These are midterm grades for the Governor’s Executive Budget; final grades will be given at the end of the annual budget process determined by the outcome of negotiations between the Governor and legislative leaders.
Blog
State Budget
A Dozen Things to Look for in the Governor’s Proposed Fiscal Year 2016-2017 Budget
January 05, 2016
In advance of Governor Cuomo’s Executive Budget for FY2017, this blog post lists the most pressing fiscal issues. Topics include Medicaid reform, school finance, transportation funding, and the bank settlement windfall.
Blog
Public Workforce
A Deal is a Deal
Settled Contracts Should Remain Settled
January 05, 2016
Reviews troubling additions to settled contracts under Mayor de Blasio to make them more generous without comparable improvements to productivity.
Blog
Transportation
MTA November 2015 Financial Plan Update
December 20, 2015
What do the MTA's finances look like in 2016?