New York State faces looming budget gaps in the billions of dollars, but holding annual spending increases to the rate of inflation would "pretty much solve the problem," the state's budget director said.
Normal spending growth for Medicaid, education and other programs is projected to drive up Albany's General Fund spending by 6 percent annually over the next four years, Budget Director John Cape said in November 1 remarks at the Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany
New York’s local government finances continue to suffer under
the strain of population loss and property tax pressures, according
to a new report by Comptroller Alan Hevesi.
“The tenuous financial condition of some local governments
(particularly Upstate) persists despite several positive developments
in the past year,” the report said
The Business Council’s new president and CEO, Kenneth Adams,
started his first day by telling the Council’s 60-member staff
that he would work with them to reinvigorate the organization.
“This is a new beginning for all of us,” Adams told
staff gathered at the Council’s Albany headquarters to greet
him during a full staff meeting
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) has proposed a new
federal program to recruit and retain top math and science teachers
through improved training and increased pay.
The program would complement a similar initiative proposed last
year by The Business Council
ALBANY—New York State legislators generally scored lower on The
Business Council's annual legislative report card than they did last year.
On the report card, the "Vote for Jobs Index," six legislators
received a grade of A (down from 19 last year), 24 received a grade of
B (compared to 130 last year), 108 earned a grade of C (compared to 56
last year), and 67 who received a grade of D (compared to three last year)
IBM's innovative “Transition to Teaching” program
has earned the New York-based corporation the 2006 recipient
of the New York State School Boards Association President’s
Award.
“When a prominent company such as IBM focuses its resources
and creativity on our schools, it draws attention to the greater
good of educating children,” NYSSBA President Carl Onken
A new analysis of taxes in the 50 states'
concludes that New York has one of the nation's worst "business
tax climates."
The 2007 State Business Tax Climate Index, published this
week by the Tax Foundation, ranks New York 47th among the states
in the competitiveness of its business-tax climate
ALBANYNew York's Medicaid spending is more than twice the per-capita national average, both for total spending and for most major program categories, a new Public Policy Institute analysis shows.
As of 2005, New York State led the nation with total Medicaid costs of $43.4 billion -- some $9.5 billion more than second-place California
ALBANYNew York’s state and local government employees pay a smaller share of pension costs, but collect higher benefits than public employees in other states, according to a Public Policy Institute
analysis of new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
State and local government retirees in New York collected an average
$23,891 in pension benefits in 2005, some 16 percent above the national
average, according to the Institute
ALBANYNew York’s state and local government employees pay a smaller share of pension costs, but collect higher benefits than public employees in other states, according to a Public Policy Institute
analysis of new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
State and local government retirees in New York collected an average
$23,891 in pension benefits in 2005, some 16 percent above the national
average, according to the Institute