Two months ago, it was revealed that the NY State Department of Education had awarded a $27 million, no-bid contract to a company owned by News Corp., which seemed especially convenient because former NYC School Chancellor Joel Klein had joined News Corp. to head its growing student technology division. Alas, the lurid phone hacking scandal at a News Corp. tabloid has made the Empire State powers that be rethink things, as State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced last week the state was dropping the deal. more ›

The Port Authority's board votes on the proposed toll and fare hikes tomorrow and while most pols seem to agree that there will be some kind of hike (if not necessarily a huge one), that doesn't mean that opponents of the idea aren't going down without a fight. And helping the cause is New York's own comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, who has released an incendiary audit [PDF] of the PA's overtime costs. Does $459.2 million in overtime over four years seem a little high to anyone else? more ›

When we first heard about several prominent former NY lawmakers still receiving their taxpayer-funded pensions, despite criminal convictions, we were shocked at how nonchalant and entitled everyone seemed about it. But yesterday, State Controller Thomas DiNapoli told the News that he plans to publicly push to put an end to these financial shenanigans. "We don't have anything now that's a deterrent. We need to do something to build in some kind of penalty to get people to think twice before they do some of those things," DiNapoli said a day-late and a dollar-short. more ›

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli won another term as the person in charge of the state's billion-dollar pension fund, beating out Republican Harry Wilson, who was armed with endorsements from Mayor Bloomberg and the NY Times, NY Daily News, and NY Post, plus millions of his own money. Last night Wilson had initially refused to concede until all absentee ballots were counted, but this morning he threw in the towel. DiNapoli said of his win, "I’d like them to reflect on this campaign, and to really understand: you don’t always need a famous name, and you don’t always need to be rich to make it in politics." more ›

The NY Times weighed in on the NY State Comptroller race and is endorsing the Republican candidate Harry Wilson, noting how he "helped turn around General Motors last year... It is rare for someone of Mr. Wilson’s talents and expertise to compete for one of the most important and least glamorous jobs in state politics." more ›

Most of the attention for this year's election is on Andrew Cuomo and Carl Paladino's fight for the Governor's Mansion, but one big state race that's happening is the one for State Comptroller. The state has serious budget problems, thanks to the poor economy, and the state pension's fund has taken a serious hit as well. Last night, current Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and his Republican challenger Harry Wilson had a debate where they tried to haunt each other with their pasts. more ›

NY State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced today that he would begin an extensive investigation into questionable overtime payments and possible fraud at the MTA. Last year, an audit found overtime payments increased by 26 percent from 2005 to 2009; it also uncovered that low-level supervisors were assigning themselves overtime, with lax oversight and a dearth of documentation for overtime claims. more ›

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released the the state's June cash report and started the press release with this historic news: "For only the second time in modern history, the state General Fund ended the first quarter of the fiscal year with a negative balance... The state ended the quarter $87.1 million in the red. While tax collections improved from the same period last year, available cash was limited because of $2.9 billion in delayed payments and refunds from 2009-10 that were made in the first quarter." more ›

Now that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has selected Rochester Mayor Bob Duffy as his running mate and State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli was backed to run for Comptroller, there are worries that the ballot is a little too white, especially when considering the five Democratic candidates for Attorney General are all white, too. Which is why Cuomo has reportedly called the Reverend Al Sharpton. more ›

Attorney General Cuomo's office revealed that in its investigation of NY State's pension fund pay-to-play practices, it was now looking at current State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. The NY Times reports, "The state pension fund increased its investment in Intermedia in early 2007, shortly after Mr. DiNapoli, a former assemblyman, was chosen by the Legislature to replace Mr. Hevesi. The increase came after a meeting between Mr. DiNapoli and Intermedia’s chief executive, Leo Hindery Jr., that was arranged by Global and Roberto Ramirez, an executive at Mirram Group and a prominent former assemblyman." DiNapoli denied acting improperly, adding, "As the attorney general’s investigation has revealed, I inherited a mess. But it is a mess that I have fixed." Former Comptroller Alan Hevesi's aides were allegedly involved in corrupt practices. more ›

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli issued a report, New York's Deficit Shuffle (PDF; not to be confused with the Truffle Shuffle) showing how NY State has hidden its budget deficits and ever-increasing spending by moving money around between accounts and other accounting "sleight of hand." DiNapoli is worried, "New York needs to stop playing games with the deficit. The state dips into dedicated funds here and shifts money over there, all to cover cash shortfalls and avoid making the difficult decisions needed to align spending with revenues. The end result is the state’s real fiscal condition is impossible to pin down. Every time the game is played, taxpayers lose." more ›

Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli thinks he's found a hidden pocket of funds that may help solve city schools' financial woes—problem is the money's locked away tight where no one can get to it. An audit revealed $615 million reserved for school employees to get accrued sick and leave time when they leave their jobs that, through some sort of mix-up, can't be accessed. more ›

Gov. Paterson now projects the deficit for the coming year at $8.2 billion, that's up $750 million from the figure he named in his budget. According to the budget division, low tax revenues from the banks are to blame. "We know that big guys typically pay us at the end of January,” said Robert L. Megna, the state budget director, referring to large banks like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase. “Last week, after the budget came out, they didn’t pay us.” Typical. more ›

The horse racing organization that has threatened to cancel the Belmont Stakes due to monetary woes says it will take the state to court instead of opening its books to auditors, according to the Daily News. The New York Racing Association refused to turn over its records to State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli after he subpoenaed the group yesterday, arguing that because a court has ruled that nonprofit charter schools don't need to open their books to the state, neither should the nonprofit horse-racing organization. more ›

The horse racing organization that threatened to cancel the Belmont Stakes due to monetary woes will be subpoenaed for refusing to open its books. The state is skeptical of the New York Racing Association's claims that it doesn't have enough money to hold the final leg of the Triple Crown, because the organization was awarded $105 million in taxpayer money and had its $200 million debt erased last year, according to the Daily News. more ›

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced today that the NY State pension fund fell 26.3%, with its value now $109.9 billion. The global economic crisis contributed to the decline, and Crain's New York reports, "It isn’t clear what percentage of the decline is due to souring private equity investments, but the fund had about $11 billion worth of such investments and $4.5 billion of “absolute return” investments—also known as hedge funds—according to the previous fiscal year’s annual report. That’s about double the amount held in 2005." However, DiNapoli also said the pension fund is "built to survive even the most challenging investing environments. For example, the Fund saw the value of its assets decline by about $30 billion in the markets that followed the dot-com bust and the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, only to see steady recovery in the subsequent years." However, in order to meet future retirement obligations, employers and taxpayers will give greater contributions. more ›

While many think Wall Street executives don't deserve bonuses, given the mess the economy's in, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says it's actually not great that Wall Street bonuses fell 44% last year. Why? Because that means to the state—and $275 million less to NYC. According to the AP, "Mr. DiNapoli estimates in a report released Wednesday that the securities industry paid its New York City employees roughly $18 billion in bonuses for 2008, compared with nearly $33 billion in 2007." Wall Street bonuses, before the fallout of last fall, "accounted for up to 20% of state tax revenues and 12% of city tax revenues." Another thing that'll hit the city: Tax incentives to financial firms headquarters in NYC added up to "a tax credit of $31.3 billion for 2008, which will reduce the firms’ future tax payments for years to come." more ›

More depressing news: State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released a report saying 225,000 jobs in New York State could be lost over the next two years due to Wall Street's downturn. (Crain's New York reports, "New York City Comptroller William Thompson has predicted the city will lose 165,000 jobs, so the latest forecast by Mr. DiNapoli is the bleakest offered so far.") DiNapoli, whose reports also suggests $6.5 billion in city and state tax revenue could be lost from Wall Street, echoed Governor Paterson's request for federal help and added, "Top Wall Street executives ought to forgo bonuses during this difficult time; it's inappropriate to reward poor performance. But the public must keep in mind that bonuses paid to lower level employees are often used to purchase goods and services in other industries, which benefits the overall economy. New York will feel a lot pain from a shrunken bonus pool." more ›

After an audit of funds meant for childcare programs for low-income parents, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli referred multiple daycare centers to district attorney offices in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx for possible prosecution. The audit determined that between 1999 and 2007, more state money was spent fraudulently than legally by recipients. more ›

Congratulations, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo: You seem to be the "wealthiest statewide elected official," according to the NY Times and your tax returns. While Cuomo makes $151,000 as AG, his total reported income was $545,000, thanks to investments. more ›