Opinion

After a delay lasting a week longer than the due date demanded of us by state law, legislators recently passed the state budget mostly along party lines in Albany. With a $212 billion total, an all-time high due to pandemic spending paid for by federal deficits, it was an epic blowout.  There are undoubtedly some smart things to […]

I have always been impressed that the preamble to the Constitution begins, “We the People of the United States.” We’ve heard the phrase so often that we don’t even stop to think about it. But as the proposed constitution was being debated in 1787, there were people who did — notably, Patrick Henry, who in a famous speech

But more must be done for industry New York small-business owners and employees received some long-awaited good news recently from Albany as two burdensome restrictions hampering restaurants and bars were eliminated. The state legislature successfully rescinded one of Gov. Cuomo’s executive orders that required customers to purchase food whenever ordering an alcoholic beverage. After legislators announced their

Our national-security experts confront many threats to order and stability in the world. In this column, I touch on a few of the most urgent of them. Terrorism. While there is no universally accepted definition, we typically use the term to refer to the use of violence, usually by nonstate actors and targeting civilians, to achieve

The needs of every single New Yorker must be accounted for as we continue to transition out of lockdown and into more regular activities. The disability community, which was hit particularly hard by both the physical and emotional impacts of COVID-19, must get the care and attention they deserve as we approach what appears to be the

It’s so easy, in the course of our day-to-day lives, to get caught up in the political preoccupations of the moment. What’s the U.S. Senate going to do about the filibuster? How should infrastructure money be spent? Is the country going to come out of this year as badly divided as it started? These and many

The gradual reopening of New York’s businesses and movement toward normalcy in daily activities has provided a lot of optimism and hope for our small-business owners, consumers, employees, and residents of New York. To that end, my colleagues in the minority conference and I are pleased to see graduating high-school students included in those reopening efforts. New

We see a new tone in diplomatic affairs between the United States and China, a real change in how both sides view the relationship. Top officials now talk openly about competition — much more so than a few years ago. The fact is that the U.S. and China have long been rivals, competing for influence and

The majority conferences in the New York Legislature recently passed a back-room budget deal that completely disregarded every rule of fiscal responsibility. The 2021-2022 enacted budget is $18.7 billion more than last year’s spending plan. New York State is now planning to spend $212 billion across the board, which represents a 9.7 percent increase over last year

Following a year of economic turmoil and uncertainty created by the COVID-19 crisis, New York State passed its 2021-22 fiscal year budget [on April 7.]. The $212 billion plan includes funding that will advance important opportunities and drive progress across New York. Significant investments are rightfully being made in schools, childcare, and higher education, which will create