Printer-friendly versionCBC’s research is conducted by CBC staff members and consultants with the active involvement and oversight of committees of the Board of Trustees. Each committee is responsible for guiding the research and approving the reports and recommendations issued within its jurisdiction.
There are three standing committees: the Budget Policy Committee, the Competitiveness Committee, and the Transportation Committee. For projects that do not fall under the domain of these standing committees, ad hoc committees are created and dissolved as necessary. Currently, there are two ad hoc committees: the Economic Development Committee, and the State and Local Realignment Committee. Other recent ad hoc committees have included the Public-Private Partnerships Committee, the Parks Committee, the Education Finance Committee, the Rent Regulation Committee, and the Authority Reform Committee
Budget Policy
Walter Harris, Co-Chair
Alair A. Townsend, Co-Chair
This committee reviews the annual city and state budgets and develops policy positions on the proposed and adopted budgets. The Committee also identifies topics for research in the areas of collective bargaining, pension benefits and public employee health insurance.
Competitiveness
David R. Greenbaum, Co-Chair
Vishaan Chakrabarti, Co-Chair
This Committee is concerned with how the New York metropolitan region can become more competitive for jobs and residents. It has undertaken comparative analyses of public infrastructure most important to business activities—local rail and highway transportation and telecommunications infrastructure. It recently completed a project on the impact of “green” policies on the competitiveness of New York City. The Committee is now exploring potential analyses of threats to the region’s competitive advantages arising from external forces such as new immigration policies, failures to modernize air transport technology and facilities, and new patterns of organization and growth within the international financial services sector.
Transportation
Seth P. Bernstein, Co-Chair
Steven M. Polan, Co-Chair
This Committee’s recent work has focused on the finances of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. It oversaw a multi-year project on the implementation of the MTA’s capital program, and develops CBC’s positions on the MTA’s ongoing fiscal problems, including its fare policy. Under the oversight of the committee, the CBC staff recently developed and published a series of indicators and comparative benchmarks for the efficiency of subway, bus and commuter rail services. In coming months the Committee will be developing positions on ways to finance the MTA’s capital program and balance its operating budget.
Economic Development
John Rhodes, Co-Chair
Mark Willis, Co-Chair
This Committee assesses the effectiveness of state and municipal economic development program and seeks to identify and promote ways to make public sector efforts in this arena more cost-effective and accountable. It has completed studies of the State’s Empire Zone program and the economic development programs operated by the New York Power Authority. The Committee now oversees staff efforts to track and guide the implementation of new State Regional Councils for economic development and to promote accountability through better use of the Authority Budget Office.
Solid Waste Management
Carol Rosenthal, Co-Chair
Michael Ryan, Co-Chair
This committee was launched in mid-2011 to find ways to reduce the more than billion dollars per year cost to taxpayers of disposing of New York City’s garbage. It is exploring ways to reduce waste generation and reduce reliance on long-distance exporting to out-of-state landfills as a primary means of disposal. One promising option being explored is more use of waste-to-energy plants.
State and Local Realignment
Carol Raphael, Co-Chair
Lawrence T. Gresser, Co-Chair
In light of the enormous fiscal pressures now straining New York City and State, this committee is examining what level of government is the most efficient at delivering services and the most adequate, stable and equitable ways to raise the required revenues. It is considering which functions are best performed at the local and which at the state level, whether or not the current mix is economically efficient, acceptably equitable, and adequately robust during inevitable recessionary cycles, and how important revenue sources perform when inevitable downturns occur. It is currently exploring the potential for realignment in the financing of K-12 education and of medical services to the indigent (Medicaid).
Innovation Prize
Alan M. Klein, Co-Chair
Justin S. Steinberg, Co-Chair
