On Feb. 22, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, “There must be pension reform in the budget.” I couldn’t agree more, budget or otherwise, as I wrote in my last column, “Cuomo mandates reform of $140 billion state pension system.” more

On Jan. 14, the New York Times reported that “President Obama on Friday announced an aggressive campaign to shrink the size of the federal government, a proposal less notable for its goal — the fight against bloat that has been embraced by every modern-day president — than for the political challenge it poses to a hostile Congress.” more

I’m sure you’re well aware that I’ve become a bit smitten with judging Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s performance over the past few months. Why? It’s not that I don’t like the guy. He has shown a lot of cheek since he took office, which seems to be reflected in recent polls. On Jan. 1 his public relations staff issued a press release claiming that, “in the 12 months since his inauguration, he has transformed Albany and made government work once again for the people, passing a balanced (on time) budget, capping property taxes, driving innovative regional economic development and enacting historic, fair tax rates etc.” more

“Saddened,” “upset” and “disappointed” were among the many dispirited words people used to describe Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to veto a bill that would … more

On Jan. 5, 2011, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in a ceremonial oath of office, promised “to restore New Yorkers’ faith in a capital racked by fiscal turmoil and ethical lapses.” In his State of the State … more

This column reviews the “Annual Report on Public Authorities in New York State,” just released by the Authorities Budget Office (ABO). Its publication is probably one of Albany’s best kept secrets. more

My last two columns, “As promised: keeping tabs” (June 30 – July 6) and “Is the bloom off the rose?” (July 21-27) provided information to evaluate the session-ending accomplishments of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Two fundamental questions were raised. Has there been a real transformation in addressing the way the “people’s business” is being managed in Albany? Do our political leaders really understand that the state of New York is still headed down a path of fiscal instability and requires levels of real reform hardly evident to date? 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

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

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