The Business Council's Board of Directors Wednesday approved
the preparation and release of new legislative report cards
to help voters and businesses evaluate the voting records
of individual legislators on issues that affect the health
of New York's business climate
A
budget analyst for Standard & Poor's said the credit-rating
agency expects the "temporary" tax increases the
Legislature enacted in 2003 will remain in place, instead
of phasing out as scheduled starting in 2005
New York's charter schools have established a successful
record in comparison to traditional public schools, and should
be given more resources, according to a new report by the
Washington-based Progressive Policy Institute.
The report found that the state's 50 charter schools have
improved more than previously existing public schools in the
same areas
New
York State's General Fund spending could rise an estimated
$4.9 billion, or 11.3 percent, in the next fiscal year, Governor
Pataki's Budget Division reported.
Mostly
because of that higher spending, the state faces a projected
budget gap of $5
The
Upstate New York economy is increasingly marked by dependence
on aging and poor residents' income from Social Security,
pensions, Medicare and Medicaid, a new report finds.
More
than half the Upstate growth in per-capita personal income
during the 1990s came from such "transfer payments,"
according to the report
by the Brookings Institution
The Public Policy Institute of New York State, the research
affiliate of The Business Council, has launched a new “weblog”
focused on economic issues in upstate New York and related
policy questions.
“We wanted to create a forum where New Yorkers and
those who care about New York can read and share ideas about
the Upstate economy and what New York should do to help it,”
said David F
Consumer-driven health plans and legislative vote tracking
will be among the topics addressed during The Business Council’s
Government Affairs Council (GAC) meeting Friday, September
24.
The GAC meeting will take place at The Sagamore in Bolton
Landing as part of The Council's Annual Meeting
ALBANY—The Business Council today published a new “School
Honor Roll” listing 226 elementary schools and 16 middle schools
across New York State that improved the most on the state’s standardized
tests between 1999 and 2003.
Schools that improved their average scores by at least 20 percent in
both math and English Language Arts (ELA) tests on both the fourth and
eighth grades made the honor roll
ALBANY— For the fourth year in a row, a significant
majority of employers in New York State were hit with double-digit increases
in health-insurance premiums this year, and employers continue the struggle
to minimize the damage this trend does to their competitiveness, The Business
Council’s latest annual survey of employers’ compensation practices shows
Standard
& Poor's Ratings Services warned that continuing "structural
imbalances" in New York State's budget, including a projected
$6.1 billion gap in 2005, may lead to a downgrading of the
state's credit rating