New York City certainly knows how much it owes to municipal bondholders—about $37 billion—for lending it the money to build bridges, schools and other important stuff. But it doesn’t know who holds all those IOUs.
The state budget remains far more precariously placed in the case of a downturn, even though one isn’t expected to hit soon.
Finding a better way to pay for healthcare is important. But the disparities and unfairness in the way healthcare is delivered will persist unless officials, and the advocates who push them, adopt a broader focus.
The Senate sponsor of the New York Health Act and a critic from a conservative think tank size break down the rationale for the bill and the risks it faces.
Massive costs. A fractured system. Deep inequality. Those features of the state’s healthcare system pose a political challenge for fans of the New York Health Act. But they’re big reasons for their seeking change in the first place.
How ambitious will the wave of reform in Albany be when Democrats take full control of state government and start to address a long list of campaign-finance, voting and ethics reforms?
When it comes to participatory budgeting, the work of actually making the city’s democracy more vibrant is just beginning.
Advocates have a long wish list for changes to campaign rules and voting practices that, they say, are more than the sum of their parts.
‘There’s plenty of things to worry about, ethics included, and a need for action on all of them. But without a reasoned and careful reform of the budget process they will be fodder for headlines and soundbites, and not much more.’
A slew of election, campaign finance, and other reforms now seem all but assured to pass in 2019 (though few are counting any chickens before they hatch).