The Business Council will mark its 25th anniversary during its 2005 Annual
State Chamber Reception Monday, May 23, 2005 at the Empire State Plaza
Convention Center in Albany.
The Business Council conducts this event each year to salute the state's
local and regional chambers of commerce for their efforts to improve the
state's business community and to promote growth and prosperity in their
own regions
Robert Ward, director of research for The Business Council
and the Public Policy Institute and a recognized authority
on New York state government and its tax policies, has been
selected by Governor George Pataki to join a seven-member commission on tax reform and simplification
ALBANYThe effective state and local tax rate on businesses in New
York is among the highest in the country, a study by the nonpartisan Council
on State Taxation finds.
State and local business taxes in New York totaled an estimated $42 billion
in 2004, according to the study
ALBANY—Proposed increases in New York State Thruway tolls would
unfairly burden commercial traffic and would seriously undermine the competitiveness
of New York State businesses, The Business Council has told the Thruway
Authority.
The proposed toll increase would hit commercial vehicles with a much
higher percentage increase than passenger vehicles, the statement said
Governor
Pataki has signed into law the revenue bill that includes
the so-called "single-sales factor" tax-code reform,
a long-time priority of The Business Council. The reform,
which has been adopted for most Article 9-A taxpayers, will
reduce corporate taxes for companies that have proportionally
high levels of employment and capital investment in New York
State
The Senate Republican Majority has unveiled plans that would
overhaul the state’s Medicaid fraud detection with the
goal of reducing corruption and waste and returning money
to taxpayers, according to a release from Senate Majority
Leader Joseph Bruno’s office
The effective state and local tax rate on businesses in New York is among
the highest in the country, a study by the Council on State Taxation finds.
State and local business taxes in New York totaled an estimated $42 billion
in 2004, according to the study. That represented 5
The Senate Republic Majority has unveiled plans that would overhaul the
state’s Medicaid fraud detection with the goal of reducing corruption
and waste and returning money to taxpayers, according to a release from
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno’s office.
“Senate legislation restructures the detection, investigation and
prosecution of Medicaid fraud in New York by strengthening and streamlining
the roles of the Health Department and Attorney General, and creates a
new Medicaid Inspector General to help uncover fraud, waste and abuse,”
the release said
ALBANYNew York’s state and local government employees collect
higher retirement benefits while contributing less than state and local
government employees in other states, according to a Public Policy Institute
analysis of new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
State and local government retirees in New York collected an average
$22,676 in pension benefits in 2003, some 16 percent above the national average, according
to the Institute
Although most New Yorkers seem to agree that Medicaid costs
too much in New York and doesn’t deliver a commensurately
high level of care, there are powerful political interests
in Albany blocking meaningful reforms, according to the latest
installment of the Public Policy Institute’s series
Medicaid
Watch ’05