A special panel has recommended that the courts mandate another
$7.5 billion a year in spending on the New York City schools,
to comply with last year’s ruling by the Court of Appeals
in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case.
The panel, whose recommendations now go before state Supreme
Court Judge Leland Degrasse for further action, opted for
the high end of various cost proposals before it
Governor Pataki and the Legislature should force New York City schools to use existing dollars more efficiently, but might also need to raise taxes statewide to pay for court-ordered improvements in education, a New York City-based think tank says in a new report.
A new statewide system of accountability, based on proposals made by the Zarb Commission, should also be part of the state's efforts to improve failing schools, according to the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC)
New York State's hospital system is too big and too expensive, but there are opportunities to reduce costs while improving patient care significantly, an advisory group appointed by Governor Pataki has concluded.
"In New York, we spend far more on health care than other states, without achieving dramatically better health outcomes for New Yorkers," the Health Care Reform Working Group wrote (emphasis in original)
The Public Policy Institute of New York State has begun publishing
a new “Monthly Economic Snapshot of Upstate New York,”
a compendium of data showing short- and long-term job-growth
trends in Upstate and its key metropolitan areas
The percentage of New Yorkers with employer-provided health
insurance has declined slightly in recent years, a new analysis
of Census Bureau data shows. At the same time, the percentage
of New Yorkers with taxpayer-funded health insurance has increased
Editor's note: This story was first
brought to the attention of The Business Council by an essay
in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle on November
5. The essay, by local real estate agent Geri Dellfava, highlighted
the experience of a couple from Texas who "almost fainted"
when they heard the property tax bill for a property outside
of Rochester
In the latest of a series of studies critical of New York
State's business climate, a new report by the California-based
Pacific Research Institute (PRI) and Forbes magazine
has concluded that New York State is the least economically
free state in the nation
Governor Pataki announced he has vetoed a controversial "budget reform" bill passed by the Legislature, echoing Business Council concerns that the proposal and an associated amendment to the state Constitution would lead to even higher spending and taxes.
The Governor said the Legislature's proposed changes would return New York State to a 19th-century system of "too much spending, too much borrowing and too much taxation
Citing arguments raised by The Business Council, Governor
George Pataki has vetoed a bill that would have prohibited
employers granting permanent employment to workers originally
hired to replace striking employees.
The Business Council had urged the veto, arguing that the
bill would have been preempted by the federal National Labor
Relations Act (NRLA)
New York’s Board of Regents is trying to improve math,
science, and technology standards by linking them more directly
to course content, students' progress, and students' performance.
The recommendations were released at the board’s November
meeting