Reports

On July 1, 2012, the interest rate on subsidized Direct Federal Loans for college students (also known as Stafford Loans) is set to revert to 6.8 percent for new loans, unless the U.S. Congress acts to prevent the increase.

New York added more jobs in the past two years than previously reported, according to revised data from the New York State Department of Labor.

The Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) is among the nation’s largest state‐ sponsored, need‐based grant programs for student aid.

In the past two years, New York State has regained 46 percent of the jobs lost during the recession, but not all parts of the State have benefited equally.

The economic recovery took hold in New York in 2010, but it has been slow, and not all regions of the State have benefited equally.

The federal government has been operating under Continuing Resolutions since the start of the new federal fiscal year that began October 1, 2010. Despite ongoing efforts between the President and Congress to reach agreement on a federal budget, taxpayers face the threat of the first federal government shutdown since 1996.

The number of Hispanic-owned businesses in New York State totaled 193,200 in 2007, the latest year for which data are available. This represented an increase of 85.4 percent compared with the 1997 level, or nearly three times the rate of growth in the total number of businesses in the State. 

Spanish

Programs focused on children who are at risk of becoming delinquent have demonstrated effectiveness in preventing young people from ever entering the juvenile justice system.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli issued an Executive Order on Energy and the Environment on September 13, 2007 that established the goals and structure of a Green Initiative for the New York State Office of the State Comptroller (OSC).

As New York State grapples with cost-effective solutions for its estimated $250 billion in infrastructure needs over the next 20 years, this report examines both the opportunities that public-private partnerships offer as well as the underlying financial risks associated with forming those partnerships.

New York State's Farmland Protection Program was created in 1992 to preserve high quality working farmland and to reduce pressures on farm families to sell their lands and leave the farming industry. Counties and towns receive financial support from the program to develop farmland protection plans and to purchase development rights on farmland.

By any measure, New York’s economy depends heavily on small businesses. Using the definition established by the federal Small Business Administration (SBA)—any firm with fewer than 500 employees—small businesses account for more than half of all private sector jobs and the vast majority of the private sector firms in New York.

In New York State, higher education is a major industry. The State’s 269 degree-granting colleges and universities employed 266,110 people and paid out $13.2 billion in wages in 2009.

In 2009, the Division of State and Local Government Accountability in the Office of the State Comptroller audited State agency and municipal government implementation of programs funded by the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF or Fund), a dedicated fund that provides support for State and municipal parks, municipal recycling programs and control of water pollution, as well as the majority of State support for conservation of open space and other important environmental programs.

In State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2009-10, All Funds spending for New York State amounted to $126.9 billion. Of this amount, approximately $38.4 billion or 30.2 percent was spent on Medicaid.

One tenet of the “smart growth” movement is that communities should strive to preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty and critical environmental areas.

The film and television production industry plays an important role in the economy of New York State, but states across the nation and certain Canadian provinces are aggressively competing for film and television jobs by offering tax incentives.

Agriculture is important to New York State’s economy, and takes place in almost every region of the State.

The current recession has had a significant impact on New York State’s residents. Jobs have been lost in virtually all industries in New York State, and the unemployment rate reached 9 percent in December 2009—a rate last seen in April 1983.

New York State and its local governments are responsible for the care and maintenance of more than 113,000 miles of highways and more than 17,400 bridges.