Opinion

As I shared with the nearly 1,200 attendees at CenterState CEO’s annual meeting on April 24, there is something exciting happening in this community, a rare and remarkable momentum and convergence of economic opportunities. It is coupled with a tangible shift in attitudes, a renewed commitment to collaboration, and perhaps more importantly, a sense of […]

In 1994, the state began the Linked Deposit Program (LDP) to assist and encourage firms, manufacturers, and small businesses to make investments. This program offers reduced-rate financing to makes it less expensive to borrow money.  Under this program, qualifying businesses can obtain loans through commercial banks, savings banks, savings and loan associations, farm credit institutions

After years of debate and discussion about proposed changes to I-81, the state Department of Transportation (DOT) announced its support [on April 22] for the community grid option. While we still await a final environmental-impact statement and another round of public hearings, the future of Syracuse is bright. I came out in support of the

While not directly related to New York State (NYS) fiscal issues, some of the biggest policies included in this year’s state budget were changes to our state’s criminal-justice system. The largest of those changes was the elimination of cash bail for most crimes other than certain qualifying offenses. The elimination of cash bail has been

New York’s property taxes are the highest in the nation. Tragically, this year’s state budget, instead of trying to provide some tax relief to our already overburdened property owners, makes ill-conceived changes to the one state program that is actually designed to provide property tax relief. That is the STAR (School Tax Relief) Program. The

I became active in politics in the late 1950s, got elected to Congress in 1964, and have remained engaged in one way or another every year since then. So I suppose I should not be surprised that I get asked a lot these days how American politics have changed over the last six decades. A

Was America ever great? Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder poses the question: “Exactly when did you think America was great?” He competes with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as Cuomo once told us: “We’re not going to make America great again. It was never that great.” Let’s review that question. But first, let’s admit

Sometimes being an elected official can be challenging because you are forced to make difficult decisions. At times, I have had to vote on legislation that if enacted would have both a positive and negative effect on my district and the constituents I represent. In the past, voting on the state budget often created this

The 2019-2020 enacted state budget is a tax-and-spend debacle and precisely the fiscal disaster many predicted would follow the new one-party Democratic rule in Albany. The apparent economic strategy of New York Democrats is simple: “Put a tax or fee on everything you see.” Grocery bags, internet purchases, vapor products, real-estate transactions, prescription medication, rental

Here is a surprise: the skills that can be used to win in politics are increasingly the skills needed to produce good policy. I know: you look at the policy stalemates in Washington and wonder how this could be. The people who arrived there by winning elections haven’t shown much in the way of policymaking