CGR, along with the Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency, sponsored a conference in Albany on Nov. 27 for stakeholders in NYS health care policy. The conference "Avoiding the Next Berger Commission - The Role of Community Health Planning in NYS" attracted 130 key stakeholders from across the state. A summary of the conference will be available in December 2007.

In 2006, in the months leading up to the election of NY’s first new governor in 12 years, CGR conducted a groundbreaking statewide research, information and civic engagement project. Our goal was to identify voters’ top concerns and focus candidates on issues. The centerpiece of the project was a probing survey of 2,500 state residents. CGR publicized findings on the web, in media outlets, and via public television; issued white papers; and sponsored public forums tailored to regional concerns. Our pre-election forums included expert panelists, decision makers and poll respondents who put the spotlight on taxes for Long Island, education in New York City, the economy in Buffalo and Rochester, and government reform in Syracuse. Visit the website developed especially for this project.

Since the New York Matters initiative (see above) identified property taxes as a particularly significant voter concern, CGR brought together some of the state’s top minds to discuss how to fix NY’s property-tax woes. At a post-election conference in Albany in January 2007, these experts presented ideas ranging from capping property taxes, to reforming state aid programs, to improving the assessment system. Among the standing room audience who listened and debated the different options proposed were members and staff of the Senate and Assembly, state agency representatives and policy experts. CGR developed a summary of the conference.

In spring 2006 CGR published results of a months-long research effort in which we analyzed the $1.7 billion in grants (all borrowed funds) handed out since 1997 by NYS legislators for “capital” projects. This first-ever geographic analysis found stark differences in benefits for regions and interest groups; secret agreements among top state leaders; fewer checks on spending than other states; and added debt for an already heavily indebted state. CGR’s recommendation – “let the sun shine on this process.”