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Special Feature
State Budget
Did You Know?
NYS Enacted Budget Edition
May 24, 2024
Release of Financial Plan Shows $2B More in Spending over State’s Initial Report.
Report
State Budget
Up and Away
State Budget Proposals Miss the Mark and Compound Fiscal Problems
March 26, 2024
As New York State lawmakers negotiate the State’s Fiscal Year 2025 Enacted Budget, they risk adding unsustainable spending, driving growth above 6 percent a year, and widening the structural gap to $20.3 billion.
Report
Education
Target and Tighten
The Sustainable Path for School Aid Growth in New York
March 13, 2024
The State’s burgeoning SOF spending has widened budget gaps. Spending restraint is needed to close those gaps, and that will only be accomplished by limiting growth in school aid, which is nearly 30 percent of SOF spending.
Report
State Budget
NYS Budget Outlook
Brighter Economy Has Not Closed Gaps; Focus Should Be Spending Restraint, with More Sunshine on Basic Breakouts
March 07, 2024
Continued strength in the economy has improved the tax receipts outlook for the State, but improving tax receipts are not and will not be the entire solution to closing out-year gaps.
Report
State Budget
Excelsior!
New York State Spending Growth Continues
February 22, 2024
Forward-looking budget choices this year–namely not layering on further tax and spending increases–would relieve the building budget pressure and stave off a potentially harsh fiscal reckoning.
Report
State Budget
Top of the Charts
New York and Its Localities Were #1 in Taxes and #2 in Spending
February 13, 2024
New York does not exist in a vacuum. It competes with other places, and other jurisdictions’ experiences provide an important perspective on the different choices that are being made.
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.
Report
Education
Vote "No" on the Smart Schools Bond Act
October 19, 2014
While enhancing the use of technology in schools is a popular cause, the Smart Schools Bond Act is ill-conceived and deserves a "no" vote for three reasons discussed in this report.
Report
Energy & Environment
Getting the Fiscal Waste Out of Solid Waste Collection in New York City
September 23, 2014
With a new mayoral administration, a new sanitation commissioner, and an expired contract with municipal sanitation workers, redesigning the public and private components of local waste collection would save about $300 million annually in the long term. The Mayor and City Council should make this restructuring a goal and begin a multiyear phase-in.
Report
Energy & Environment
12 Things New Yorkers Should Know About Their Garbage
May 21, 2014
This report highlights the reasons for the surprisingly high cost of this essential service, including inefficiencies that the City should address in its upcoming negotiations with sanitation workers.
Report
Health Care
Analysis of the New York State Medicaid Program and Identification of Potential Cost-Containment Opportunities
November 17, 2010
This report identifies trends in expenditures and enrollment in New York’s Medicaid program.
Report
Health Care
No Easy Solution
Effective Medicaid Control Must Focus on the Elderly and Disabled
November 17, 2010
This report examines Medicaid spending in New York relative to other states and finds the program is big not just because New York is a populous state or it covers a lot of people. It recommends a multi‐year agenda to restructure service provision and the cost of care for the elderly and disabled.
Report
Pensions & Benefits
8 Things New Yorkers Should Know About Public Retirement Benefits in New York State
October 19, 2010
This report presents eight facts about retirement benefits for New York State and local employees intended to stimulate a substantive discourse on pursuing changes to prevent underfunding of the pension systems and to make retirement benefits more fair and affordable.
Report
State Budget
Is a State Spending Cap the Right Approach for New York?
October 11, 2010
This paper examines the caps proposed for New York. It also analyzes the Colorado experience and that of three other states in order to help inform decision making for New York.
Report
Pensions & Benefits
Better Benefits from our Billion Bucks
August 02, 2010
This report describes the organization and financing of the union welfare funds, identifies and documents three problems with the current arrangements – limited accountability, poor financial management and inefficient provision of benefits - and presents recommendations to improve the use of these payments and provide taxpayer savings.
Report
State Budget
In The Danger Zone
A Comparative Analysis of New York State's Long-Term Obligations
March 08, 2010
This comparative analysis examines the debt burden of the 50 states. It finds that New York's debt burden is well above national averages and greater than that of all but three states.