Governor Andrew Cuomo announced earlier today that he has deployed an additional 1,000 New York National Guard troops to augment the state's Hurricane Irene response efforts, bringing the total … more

Smoking is now officially prohibited on Long Island Rail Road platforms. Citing the dangers of secondhand smoke, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a law on Monday that forbids commuters from smoking on … more

As ideas go, we think Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive order, announced last week at SUNY Old Westbury, creating 10 state regional economic development councils, including one for Long Island, is brilliant. The concept of streamlining the development process — now a byzantine maze of bureaucracy — may be of great value. more

Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council on July 27 to redefine the relationship between the state government and businesses, in order to stimulate regional economic development and create jobs statewide. Cuomo made his announcement at SUNY Old Westbury. more

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo launched the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council on July 27 to redesign the relationship between the state government and businesses, in order to stimulate regional economic development and create jobs statewide. more

New York state government has a well-deserved reputation for ineffectiveness. Ask most New Yorkers what one word best describes Albany, and the most common response would be “dysfunctional.” That’s the term that New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice used in a study in 2004, in its follow-up in 2006 and in its 2008 update, “Still Broken.” more

Politics is a quirky business. This is the story of six governors who have proposed similar programs aimed at cutting expenses and holding the line on taxes, with completely different reactions from the voters. more

State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos says he is optimistic that despite the difficult choices they face, this is the year when Albany lawmakers will finally make the structural changes to the state budget needed to rein in spending. more

I have to admit, I’m having a problem understanding how, in just 33 working days, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Medicaid Redesign Team was able to recommend 79 cost cutting measures to save $2.3 billion in the upcoming budget. I’ll address this concern from three viewpoints. 
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My last column, “Stop playing games with the budget deficit” (Feb. 3) was written one week before New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli issued his analysis of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive budget draft. The irrationality I outlined fell short of anticipating the following mea-culpa expressed in the comptroller’s analysis. “The SFY 2010-2011 enacted budget relied on $16.7 billion in non-recurring or temporary budget resources; and overly optimistic tax revenue projections, causing a dramatically worsened state structural deficit.” How dramatic? These tenuous entries constituted 30 percent of all the monies in the state’s operating fund. more