ALBANY— Governor George Pataki will provide the keynote address during the luncheon at The Business Council's annual Small Business Day Tuesday, March 22, at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany.

The day's agenda will also include a 10 a.m. rally for Medicaid reform that is expected to include business leaders, county officials, and agricultural leaders. County executives from the Capital Region and around the state are expected to join Business Council Vice President Ed Reinfurt and representatives of the New York Farm Bureau in discussing the need for cost-cutting Medicaid reform for New York's counties, farmers, business and individual taxpayers.

Business leaders expected to participate in the rally include: Chuck Steiner, president of the Chamber of Schenectady County; George Wallace Hart, president of the Fulton County Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and Kevin Keely, president and CEO of the Chemung County Chamber of Commerce.

County Executives expected to speak at the rally include: Mike Breslin, Albany County
executive; Kathy Jimino, Rensselaer County executive; Tom Suozzi, Nassau County executive; and Tom Santulli, Chemung County executive. All have been strong advocates of Medicaid relief for county taxpayers. Other county executives expected to attend the rally include: Barbara Fiala, Broome County executive; Mark Thomas, Chautauqua County executive; William Steinhaus, Dutchess County executive; Joel Giambra, Erie County executive; Joseph Griffo, Oneida County executive; Nicholas Pirro, Onondaga County executive; and Ed Diana, Orange County executive.

The Small Business Day agenda also includes an 11 a.m. panel discussion on the economic roadblocks that New York's businesses face. Scheduled speakers in this session on the high costs of doing business in New York State include: Mark Bitz, president of Plainville Farms and a high-profile reform advocate; Gerard Conway, director of governmental affairs for the Medical Society of New York; Jay Gallagher, capitol bureau chief of the Gannett News Service and author of an upcoming book on New York; and E.J. McMahon, director of the Manhattan Institute's Empire Center. David Shaffer, president of the Public Policy Institute, will moderate.

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