A coalition of Westchester County residents, schools, businesses and local governments is launching a campaign tomorrow in favor of getting mandate relief, meaning they want the state to reduce the number and cost of programs and services they require schools and local governments to provide. The coalition said in a… Read More →
Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled a new program today—Tax-Free NY—which will allow businesses to operate tax free on State University of New York campuses outside New York City and designated private universities north of Westchester County. That means no income tax for employees and no sales, property or business taxes for… Read More →
Nearly 96 percent of school budgets across the state were adopted yesterday, according to an analysis by the New York State School Boards Association. Districts that were not proposing property tax cap overrides had a 98 percent passage rate, while those that did want to spend above the 2 percent… Read More →
Scarsdale Superintendent Michael McGill hasn’t lost a school budget vote since he arrived to lead one of the nation’s top school districts in 1998. And he’s been told the last Scarsdale budget defeat occurred back in the 1970s. A day after the 2013-14 budget was defeated, McGill said school officials… Read More →
Passage of the proposed New York State Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act—the NYS DREAM Act—would cost the state about $20 million more a year in TAP aid, according to a new report from state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. The legislation would extend eligibility for New York’s Tuition Assistance… Read More →
“Soft money” contributions to party and state Legislature housekeeping accounts grew by 24 percent when donations between 1999 and 2005—$46.7 million—and between 2006 and 2012—$58 million—are compared, according to a Common Cause/NY report released today. The figures don’t include county and local contributions because the state did not start tracking… Read More →
WASHINGTON – Congress appears almost certain to cut the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program formerly known as food stamps. For House and Senate lawmakers debating legislation to reauthorize federal agricultural and nutrition programs as part of a five-year farm bill, the choices may be the $4.1 billion in SNAP cuts contained… Read More →
Per student public education spending in the country fell in 2011 for the first time since at least 1977—but not in New York, which still leads the nation in per-pupil spending. The U.S. Census Bureau today released data that showed New York, as has long been the case, spends the… Read More →
The state Department of Taxation and Finance lacked adequate controls over sting operations, in one case resulting in the loss of and failure to account for about $160,000 in cash proceeds in an operation in Westchester County, according to a new report from New York Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott…. Read More →
Former Assemblyman Vito Lopez, A Brooklyn Democrat who resigned today, quickly lost his desk on the chamber floor and office in a state building. The placards that once showed Lopez’ name in front of his desk and on his office door have been removed. Lopez resigned after twin reports last… Read More →
