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Though state officials’ financial disclosure forms are expected to be made public for the first time this week, don’t expect a treasure trove of well-organized, easily searchable information. That would make too much sense.

State legislators’ outside income, investments and debts will be available online in accordance with the Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo hailed...

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s formation of a commission to investigate corruption in state government – a Moreland Commission – has put a strain on his relationship with Senate co-leader Dean Skelos, the editorial board notes. Skelos is calling it a “witch hunt.” The investigation has a much broader focus than originally anticipated, with commission members deputized as Deputy Attorneys General and given...

The editorial board is unsurprised by revelations by notorious former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that the NSA has been spying on its allies, including Germany and the European Union. “Grow up,” says board member Alvin Bessent. “Of course allies spy on each other.”

We’re outraged by reports that the Hempstead school district has been routinely changing some students’...

Anyone who hoped for a blockbuster affirmative action ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court Monday has to be horribly frustrated. The court took a pass.

With the hot issues of same sex marriage, the Defense of Marriage Act and the Voting Rights Act, all queued up for decisions in the next few days, court watchers now have to entertain the possibility that what has the makings of an historic court...

A Congress that can't manage to do much of anything should avoid the need to do some things over and over again. That includes what's become an annual fight to make sure the interest rate on college student loans doesn't double.

Nobody wants that to happen, least of all the millions of students with little choice other than to pile on debt. But the rate on subsidized Stafford loans will bound...

In a show of support for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, Rockland Democrats are blasting one of their own: New York Sen. David Carlucci. They’re particularly peeved at the Independent Democratic Conference's role in blocking the governor’s Women’s Equality Act from being voted on.

They’re calling Carlucci a sellout. It's this kind of hardball pressure tactics that just might force the Senate to have...

The New York State Legislature tends to crash a lot of decisions into the final days of its annual session – an outcome known to Albany-watchers as The Big Ugly. And so it is this year.

Even as some major legislation, such as the Women’s Equality Act, remain in the stew of today’s legislative work, the editorial board is talking about what the legislature did that we like and don’t like –...

The editorial board is fascinated by a push to reopen the investigation of the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800, which exploded minutes after taking off from JFK Airport, killing all 230 people aboard. An upcoming documentary, to be released July 17, questions the government’s official explanation: faulty switches. We want to watch the documentary before commenting.

We note that President Barack...

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo promised in his January State of the State Address that a women’s equity agenda would be his signature legislative initiative this session. Despite an aggressive push, such as the one he used to get a vote on same-sex marriage in 2011, he may wind up with only nine laws -- and the 10th turned into a potent weapon for the 2014 election.

Cuomo’s original omnibus bill addressed...

The immigration bill moving through the Senate would reduce federal budget deficits and boost the nation’s economy if it becomes law. That’s what Washington's respected, nonpartisan bean-counters said in a report released Tuesday.

Despite that good news immigration reform is on the road to oblivion in the House.

The bill negotiated by the Senate’s bipartisan “gang of eight” would cut...