What's The Data Point? Episode 17 -- $95 billion [You can download What's The [Data] Point? wherever you get your podcasts, including on iTunes]

This week's data point is $95 billion, the current value of all of the future retiree benefits, except pensions, already earned by current retirees and current workers of New York City. This amount, referred to as

(photo: The Governor's Office)

As the dust settles on the scheduled legislative session in Albany and subsequent “extraordinary session” called by Governor Andrew Cuomo, much of the focus has been on the extension of mayoral control of city schools, finally passed Thursday after serious brinkmanship. There has also been plenty of talk centered on what didn’t happen: procurement, ethics, and electoral reform, the Child Victims Act, and more.

The Citizens Budget Commission (CBC), a fiscal watchdog, is also calling for scrutiny of other items that