Depending on your point of view, Governor Cuomo’s proposed superintendent salary cap is either a good start on the road to reining in exorbitant taxes across New York state or, at best, a symbolic gesture. 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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It is time for leaders to take strong, firm stances. That goes for lawmakers in Washington and Albany, our county, town and village representatives and the elected members of our own boards of education. more

The Bellmore-based Long Island Crisis Center is facing a crisis of its own: Governor Cuomo’s proposed budget cuts mean that the center could lose nearly one-third of its budget, possibly shutting … more

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

There are times when I wish it was 2012. Not because I’m wishing my life away but because I’d love to see how today’s crop of politicians worked their way out of the worst financial crises in federal, state and local history. more

On Feb. 1, Governor Cuomo delivered his first budget address. It was a no-holds-barred speech in which he admitted that years of dysfunction and mismanagement has driven our state into “functional bankruptcy.” more

It’s not even February yet, but so far it looks like 2011 will finally be the year New York gets moving in the right direction. more

They say misery loves company, and if that’s the case, New York state has lots of company. It’s no secret that New York is faced with a budget deficit of at least $10 billion. But compared with some of the other big states, New York’s budget dilemma may be small change. Or is it? more