Stay up-to-date on the companies, people and issues that impact businesses in Syracuse, Central New York and beyond.
Outlining the Priorities for a Final State Budget
As New York legislative leaders representing both the Assembly and Senate discuss and debate their goals for the upcoming state spending plan, with an April 1 deadline looming, a number of ideas have been put on the table. I recently urged my legislative colleagues to consider the following items that have statewide ramifications. Final budget […]
Growing old can have its advantages. One is that you can shrug off the latest calamities — because you have seen so many other calamities over the years — and you know they fizzled. This makes you look good. Younger people complain about the latest calamity. The world is running out of … fill in
Most Regents Re-appointed by Majority; Legislation Passes Assembly to Change Common Core
The New York State Legislature recently met in joint session to elect four members to the state Board of Regents. The Board of Regents is responsible for the general supervision of all educational activities in the state, including implementation of educational standards such as the much-maligned Common Core standards. The board consists of 17 members,
Liberal Tax Mentality is an Insult to Upstate
As lawmakers engage in the budget-making process, a flurry of policies and proposals are unveiled and considered. The idea of universal pre-kindergarten in New York state is not a new one, but it has gained increased attention since the governor defined it as priority in his budget address, and the mayor of New York City
Don’t you love elections? In the campaigns for the important ones, we get to see frantic tap dancing. We get to see some foaming at the mouth. This year’s campaigns promise to entertain. In New York, we already see our Governor Andrew Cuomo moving to the right. He knows he has most Democrats’ votes in
Letter to the Editor: Quality pre-K is a critical opportunity
Editor’s note: The authors say they wrote this letter in response to the editorial by Norman Poltenson, entitled, “Pre-K is a failure, so let’s make it universal” in the Jan. 31 issue of The Central New York Business Journal. There is overwhelming, research-based evidence that early education creates critical opportunities, especially for at-risk children living
Wisconsin’s experiment in public-labor law
Just over three years have passed since Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed Public Act 10 (PA 10), a major labor-reform bill. Organized labor, legislative Democrats, and their supporters claimed Walker was destroying collective-bargaining rights for government employees and responded by occupying the state capitol in Madison. Thousands of protesters assembled to chant, “This is what
Rombel on Business: February U.S. jobs report shows signs of improvement
Friday’s monthly nonfarm payrolls report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provided fresh evidence of a bounce back in the U.S. labor market from recent weakness that may have been weather-related. This is despite the unemployment rate’s rise to 6.7 percent in February from 6.6 percent in January. For the record, employers added
The Governor Stands up for Upstate in de Blasio skirmish
The new mayor of the Big Apple, Bill de Blasio, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo are duking it out. The mayor wants to slap his city’s millionaires with extra taxes — to fund the pre-K program the teachers’ unions want. (Note: pre-K is not for the kiddies. It is for more jobs for dues-paying
Regents’ Decision to Modify Common Core Overdue But Not Enough
The New York State Board of Regents approved changes to Common Core recently, including delaying full implementation of the graduation requirements by five years — from 2017 to 2022. This means that instead of ninth graders being the first class to graduate with a Regents degree aligned with Common Core standards, it will now be
Stay up-to-date on the companies, people and issues that impact businesses in Syracuse, Central New York and beyond.