Show Notes for Show #022 "Is our schools funded?"

Show Notes

These are the long-delayed show notes for the show that aired on April 8 of 2014. And this is my shiny new blog. Like it? I'll explain in a bit why I started this, but first, the notes you've been dying to see.

Local News

• What's your school district getting in aid? Find it here - Politics on the Hudson 31 March 2014, 10:07 am by Joseph Spector
• Kinderhook village starts work on 2014 budget - News - Register Star
• Alamin family opens new Warren Street store - Columbia-Greene Media: News
• NY's Greek yogurt added to federal school lunch program - Politics on the Hudson 12 March 2014, 10:11 am by Joseph Spector
• Ichabod Crane considers $35.5M budget WGXC Newsroom March 14, 2014 by Staff
• WGXC Newsroom · Columbia County farms get easements March 15, 2014 by Staff
• WGXC Newsroom · Valatie eyes switch to Viridian ‘green’ power March 20, 2014 by Staff
• 'State of the Community' addresses youth issues - Columbia-Greene Media: News David Lee/Columbia-Greene Media
• NL super leads broadband charge - Columbia-Greene Media: News Tuesday, March 11, 2014 12:30 am By Gail Heinsohn

State News

• NY's unemployment rate unchanged in February - Politics on the Hudson 27 March 2014, 12:30 pm by Joseph Spector
  But it’s down locally. Columbia County’s unemployment rate for February was 6.7 percent (ninth lowest in NY State) down from 6.4 percent in January. This is down from 7.9 percent in February 2013, which is due to a drop in the number of unemployed of 400, evenly split between an increase in the number of employed and a decrease in the number in the labor force. Greene County’s unemployment rate for February was 8.1 percent (twenty-ninth lowest in NY State) up from 7.8 percent in January. This is down from 9.9 percent in February 2013, which is due to a drop in the number of unemployed of 400, split between a small increase of 100 in the number of employed and a larger decrease in 300 of the number in the labor force. So in the listening area overall, we saw an increase in the number of jobs of about 300 over the last year, while the labor force shrank by about 500.
• As NY plans casino expansion, revenue drops at Indian casinos - Politics on the Hudson 26 March 2014, 11:56 am by Joseph Spector
• John King on upcoming Common Core tests: “The best preparation for testing is good teaching” 24 March 2014, 4:42 pm by Joseph Spector
• Enrollment on NY health insurance exchange tops 865,000 - Newsday April 1, 2014 By RIDGELY OCHS
• Report: Housing costs in NY outpace incomes 10 March 2014, 11:22 am by Joseph Spector

State of the State

• 2014 State of the State Address. The Governor’s 2014 plans.
• STATE BALANCED BUDGET REQUIREMENTS, National Conference of State Legislatures

The Budget

• 2014 -2015 Executive Budget | Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. Governor’s budget. Good times.
• Lawmakers pass NY's fourth consecutive on-time budget - Politics on the Hudson 31 March 2014, 11:53 pm by Jon Campbell
• Groups rally against budget deal - Politics on the Hudson 31 March 2014, 6:04 pm by Joseph Spector
• Budget includes protections from surprise medical bills - Politics on the Hudson 31 March 2014, 2:55 pm by Joseph Spector
• New York leaders, Gov. Cuomo reach deal on budget - Columbia-Greene Media: News March 30, 2014 12:30 am ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)
• WGXC Newsroom · State negotiators reach budget agreement March 30, 2014 in Albany by Staff
• Tax freeze to total $1.5B over three years - Politics on the Hudson 29 March 2014, 1:13 pm by Joseph Spector
• Cuomo offers ‘highlights’ of budget deal - Capitol Confidential March 29, 2014 at 12:15 pm by Casey Seiler
• More details on late-night budget deal - Politics on the Hudson 29 March 2014, 10:07 am by Joseph Spector
• Budget includes Common Core reforms, $340 million for pre-kindergarten - Politics on the Hudson 29 March 2014, 9:48 am by Jon Campbell
• $8.4B drained from NY schools since 2010 - Politics on the Hudson 25 March 2014, 10:52 am by Joseph Spector
  As discussed earlier, the property tax freeze Cuomo’s proposing will undermine this relatively small (compared to the cuts in the last six or seven years) increase in school aid.
• Legislative leaders agree to add $500M to state budget - Politics on the Hudson 20 March 2014, 10:30 am by Joseph Spector
• WGXC Newsroom · Cuomo’s budget holds spending under 2 percent January 22, 2014 in Albany by Staff
• Property-tax freeze would be a rebate check around election time - Politics on the Hudson 21 January 2014, 7:05 pm by Joseph Spector
  Of course, here’s where the surplus is coming from. Cuomo isn’t going to make up the difference in local revenue as a result of the property tax freeze. No. Instead: “Cuomo said that local governments need to do more to curb expenses.” Among the many dead horses that I continue to beat (and just as an aside, what a gruesome metaphor that is; remind me never to use it again) is this one: the problems with municipal finance are only partly due to things under local control. The rest is due to the tax-cutting religion of the last few decades at the federal and state levels, which has cut down the money flowing to municipalities from the federal and state levels, leaving them with one main source of revenue: property taxes.
• For tax freeze, local government and schools would need to cut tax levy 1% a year - Politics on the Hudson 21 January 2014, 2:45 pm by Joseph Spector
  Not really clear from this piece where the cuts are going to be if we’re expecting surpluses with tax cuts.

National News

• Growth in the Fourth Quarter Is Revised Up a Shade, to 2.6% - NYTimes.com By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ MARCH 27, 2014
• Federal Budget Deficit Falls to Smallest Level Since 2008 - NYTimes.com
  Mostly because of a rise in revenues as the recovery slowly grinds on.
• Fed Transferred $79.6 Billion in Earnings to the Treasury Last Year - NYTimes.com By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM MARCH 14, 2014 WASHINGTON
  Nice understated take-down of some of the Fed fear-mongering you often hear (if you listen). Good points:
  1. The Fed makes money on it’s portfolio and returns that money to the Treasury, which reduces the deficit, all else equal.
  2. Janet Yellen smack-talking to Congress: “recessions cause higher deficits, fools!” (not an exact quote).

Unemployment

• A single paragraph that explains why unemployment is still so high - WaPo, By Zachary Goldfarb March 10 at 10:15 am
• Senate reaches bipartisan deal to extend unemployment benefits - The Washington Post By Paul Kane , Published: March 13
• Unemployment insurance is back from the dead - WaPo, By Greg Sargent March 13 at 4:36 pm
• Private Employment Slowly Reclaims Pre-Downturn Peak - NYTimes.com MARCH 14, 2014 By FLOYD NORRIS
• People Think We're in a Recession. Don't Blame Them. - NYTimes.com By JOSH BARRO March 14, 2014, 10:14 am 36
• Unemployment dips to post-recession lows in 41 states By Niraj Chokshi March 17 at 12:57 pm
  But, wages for low-wage workers have fallen since the “end” of the recession.
• Applications for US jobless aid dip to 4-month low - The Washington Post Brennan Linsley, File/Associated Press

Inequality

• Treating Inequality with Redistribution: Is the Cure Worse than the Disease? | iMFdirect - The IMF Blog
  Strange title. Given that the answer given in the text of the blog post is an emphatic NO. Also, Marxists have infiltrated the International Monetary Fund! Rejoice!
• Enslave the robots and free the poor - FT.com:
• The World's 85 Richest People Are as Wealthy as the Poorest 3 Billion - Derek Thompson - The Atlantic
• What's the State of Economic Inequality in America? | The Business Desk with Paul Solman | PBS NewsHour | PBS
• My Life as a Retail Worker: Nasty, Brutish, and Poor - Atlantic Mobile Joseph Williams Mar 11 2014, 11:50 AM ET Reuters
• Pay Higher Wages, Earn More Profit - NYTimes.com By TONY SCHWARTZ March 21, 2014, 12:50 pm
• Wall Street bonuses up 15% - Politics on the Hudson
• Income inequality hinders economic growth, according to new report | MSNBC
• Nasa-funded study: industrial civilisation headed for ‘irreversible collapse’? | Nafeez Ahmed | Environment | theguardian.com
• All Economics Is Local - NYTimes.com By MICHAEL REICH and KEN JACOBS March 22, 2014, 2:30 pm
• Industry Behind Anti-Wage-Hike Letter - NYTimes.com By ERIC LIPTON MARCH 15, 2014 WASHINGTON
  Prepare to be shocked: both the restaurant industry and many mainstream economists oppose the minimum wage and any increase therein.
• Special delivery: Domino's gives dough for underpaying employees - Politics on the Hudson 27 March 2014, 10:56 am by Joseph Spector
  Domino's delivers wage theft.

Power Lines

• Power line expansion opposition groups form coalition - Columbia-Greene Media: News Wednesday, January 22, 2014. By Adam Clayton Columbia-Greene Media
• WGXC Newsroom · Athens group shares information on West Point March 12, 2014 in Athens by Volunteer
• Possible Modified Transmission Line Proposals Draw Cautious Praise 2:22 PM WED MARCH 12, 2014 By ALLISON DUNNE WAMC News
• WGXC Newsroom · Transmission line talks continue in area March 23, 2014
• PSC holds conference on West Point project March 25, 2014
• WGXC Newsroom · PSC to hold West Point public hearings in April March 26, 2014 in Athens by Staff  

Music and such

• Mark Fiore: Religious Liberty for Corporations
• Patsy Cline - Crazy
• Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall
• Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood
• Theme Song: Drops of H2O ( The Filtered Water Treatment ) by J.Lang
  Provided under a Creative Commons Public License