Opinion

Every day, New Yorkers rely on local roads, bridges, and culverts to get to work, go to school, run their errands and enjoy our state’s many great recreational destinations. Unfortunately, these same roads and bridges have been financially neglected for too long, and travelers from all over the state have been forced to navigate the […]

A couple of decades ago, I wrote a book in which I talked about what it takes to be a good citizen in a representative democracy like ours. I thought the principles I laid out were timeless, but I recently reread them and boy, they seem a lot less clear-cut now.  In principle, everything I wrote back

In January, I wrote a letter to John B. King, Jr., chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY), to address a concern raised by students taking classes in the New York State Pathways in Technology (NYS P-Tech) program. Despite a number of COVID requirements and mandates finally being relaxed, there remain a number

It’s been a year since Russia launched its brutal invasion of Ukraine, and a lot has happened in that time. Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked war has caused unspeakable destruction and suffering. At the same time, Ukrainians have inspired the world with their brave resistance. When the invasion began, some Western officials said privately that they expected

T  here is never a bad time to   ecommit to healthy cardiovascu-  ar dietary and exercise habits, but American Heart Month in February offered an especially great opportunity to actively consider some creative ways to improve overall heart health. As we prepare to head into the warmer, sunnier spring weather, there are lots of ways

In the pantheon of political attacks on sitting legislators, probably none is more damaging than the charge that they’ve lost touch with the people back home. If they’re in Congress, it’s usually couched as having caught “Potomac Fever;” and in a state legislature, it’s that they don’t care about the views of the people who

As the New York State executive budget proposal inches closer to a final product, its insufficiencies and impacts become clearer. One area of especially great concern is Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to intercept federal funding meant to help offset localities’ Medicaid costs. Under the governor’s plan, more than $624 million in federal money earmarked for

We Americans live in a representative democracy. That’s a fundamental feature of public life in the United States, a part of who we are as a people. We elect leaders to make decisions on our behalf. It’s not a pure democracy, in which the people vote on every important issue and the majority gets its

The New York State budget process is a complex undertaking with an enormous impact on New York’s residents and businesses. At its core, though, the document has one simple aim, improve the quality of life for those living in the state. One way to accomplish this is by using the budget to shape economic policies

On Feb. 7, President Joe Biden engaged in a baseless fear-mongering campaign, accusing U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and the new House Republican majority of attempting to withhold approval of increasing the $31.4 trillion national debt ceiling unless steep cuts are made to Social Security and Medicare. Before the nation, Biden stated, “Some of