BY Nick Reisman City of Albany

The business-aligned Unshackle Upstate on Tuesday released a 2020 agenda that focuses on opposing both the creation of single-payer health and expanding the prevailing wage while also backing more workforce development investment.

The Rochester-based business group has found little cheer about in Albany, opposing increases in the state’s minimum wage and blasting New York’s tax climate.

BY Nick Reisman City of Albany
PUBLISHED 4:59 PM ET Dec. 17, 2019

State lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo should not take on more debt to close a $6.1 billion budget gap, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said on Monday in an interview with Spectrum News.

At the same time, he wants lawmakers and the governor to address the underlying issues for the gap, stemming from the state’s Medicaid program in the budget and not kick the can down the road.

BY Nick Reisman City of Albany
PUBLISHED 6:43 PM ET Dec. 11, 2019

Middle-income earners and working class New Yorkers should not take the brunt of closing a $6.1 billion budget gap, but there’s a “discussion to be had” over whether richer people should be asked to pay more, Sen. Mike Gianaris said in an interview Wednesday on NY1’s Inside City Hall.

“I think there’s a discussion to be had about whether we want to focus on some of the wealthier individuals in the state who can certainly afford to contribute a little bit more when times are tough,” he said when asked about a potential tax increase. “But that’s something we haven’t resolved yet.”

BY Nick Reisman City of Albany
PUBLISHED 5:28 PM ET Dec. 09, 2019

Raising new revenue through taxes is not the “first fallback” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins on Monday told reporters during a retreat of the Democratic conference.

The state faces a $6.1 billion budget gap ahead of the state budget due March 31, fueled in large part by a gap in Medicaid spending.