Opinion

After a month-long delay that featured six emergency extenders, secretive meetings, and several backdoor deals, the recently passed New York State budget amounted to another missed opportunity. At a time when inflation remains problematic and the state’s sky-high cost of living has driven hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers away, we needed a budget focused […]

In the pantheon of writings about Congress, California Rep. Katie Porter’s new book will almost certainly draw attention for her unvarnished takes on the institution and her colleagues. In “I Swear: Politics is Messier Than My Minivan,” Porter finds plenty of targets, including her fellow House members, staffers, lobbyists — and how a seat in

Anti-tech legislation is back in Congress and that’s bad news for New York’s local economies.  Small businesses and startups increasingly rely on digital platforms to succeed, and large technology companies provide the foundations critical to our virtual and literal “Main Streets” as we look to our economic future. Instead of engaging in populist “big is

Creating alliances and exercising diplomacy are key elements of foreign policy, and both are essential for America to play a constructive role in making the world more peaceful and prosperous. Recent developments remind us that these policy tools can be highly successful and deserve our support. On April 4, Finland became the 31st member nation

New York state continues to lag the nation in job recovery but creating the new profession of “career criminal” is not the answer. Crime across the state, and particularly in New York City, has become completely entrenched in our daily lives. While the Assembly Minority Conference continues to push our counterparts and Gov. Kathy Hochul

There is a lot of discussion in Washington, D.C.  these days on what to do about the federal deficit. It continues to grow, and House Republicans in particular have made addressing it a key part of their agenda. Early on, the House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, told his caucus that it would get a chance to

I am pleased to see the State University of New York (SUNY) college system ended its outdated COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which had created confusion and frustration for students across the state.  The decision came a day after President Joe Biden announced the official end of the nation’s emergency response, but it should not have taken

New York state is well-positioned to dramatically improve its plastics-recycling rate, if its lawmakers follow the science.  Only 10 percent of plastics get recycled and that is unacceptably low. The landfills in New York are reaching capacity and there are few options for the garbage to go. What doesn’t end up in landfills within the

Across the nation, we have witnessed school-targeted violence at a rate unlike any we have ever seen in this country. The grief and heartbreak families have been forced to endure as a result of these attacks is unimaginable and it is abundantly clear action is needed now before another tragedy occurs. It is obvious the safety procedures

Early this year, the Gallup organization came out with a survey of Americans on how they view the ethics of various professions. Nurses ranked at the top. Doctors, pharmacists, and high-school teachers did well, too. Real-estate agents and bankers were considered about average. Down at the bottom? Telemarketers. And members of Congress. Over the course