Opinion

CenterState CEO recently gained some national recognition (www.brookings.edu/blogs/the-avenue/posts/2016/02/04-economic-development-in-upstate-new-york-liu) for going beyond the traditional scope of work for an economic-development organization and chamber of commerce to more robustly and visibly address the issues of poverty and economic disparity.  Through our new Economic Inclusion Portfolio (www.centerstateceo.com/core-focus-areas/economic-inclusion), we are making a long-term, organization-wide commitment to ensuring that our […]

A shocking revelation was made at a recent joint state legislative budget hearing on public safety as Margaret Miller, head of the Office of Information Technology Services (ITS), testified that her office was working on three proposals for the ammunitions database that was initially outlined in the governor’s misguided SAFE Act.  This was a shock,

Recently, joint legislative budget hearings were held on taxes and economic development in Albany. I think the same-day scheduling of these hearings reflects how taxes and state affordability are tied to the ability of an economy to grow and develop. For some politicians in the state, including Governor Cuomo, the approach has been to invest

There have been encouraging signs that the Republican leaders on Capitol Hill want to make Congress function again. They’ve talked about a series of changes to make the process more open for rank-and-file members, and insist they want to restore a healthy legislative process. This has to be heartening to any American concerned about the

Bernie Sanders’ campaign fires up memories of living under socialism, which I did for eight years in my 20s. Socialism had points good and bad — like any system. On the good side, we received many benefits, oh boy. Dollars from the government for kids, free health care, food made cheap by subsidies, low-cost mortgages,

It is well known that opioid and heroin addiction has increased throughout the nation in the last decade. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heroin deaths quadrupled between 2002 and 2013 — surpassing traffic accidents as the leading cause of accidental deaths. The increase in drug use and addiction has affected

It was during the early part of 2014 when Gov. Andrew Cuomo first announced his “college for cons” scheme. He wanted to reinstate a defunct program, that was abolished more than 20 years ago, which used public funds to pay college tuition for incarcerated criminals.  Here we are, two years later, and the governor names

When the history of this year’s presidential campaign is written, one of its more remarkable features will be that candidates of both parties felt it necessary to talk about income inequality. Surely that makes this a watershed moment. The issue is hardly new. As historian and writer Jill Lepore pointed out last year, income inequality

We often hear politicians whine about too much money in politics. Next time you hear one, I want you to scream two words at the television: term limits. If anyone ever acted on those two words, you would see less money in politics. I’m talking about the big slush buckets of money. The huge dollars