New
York's workers' compensation premiums will not increase next
year.
The
state Insurance Department announced that decision late July
15. But assessments, a tax on premiums that all employers
must pay, will increase 6 percent this year
Two
prominent New York City-based business groups have staked
out different positions on proposals to significantly increase
the state's minimum wage.
The
New York City Partnership, a city-based group of business
leaders, has endorsed an increase in the state's minimum wage
to $7
Increasing
the minimum wage to $7 per hour would only reduce employment
opportunities for entry-level workers, especially low-skill
workers the minimum wage increase is supposedly intended to
help, according to a new study by Cornell University researchers
ALBANYNew York lags behind competing
states' job creation in almost every major
industrial sector, a new online report by
The Public Policy Institute shows.
The Institute, the research affiliate of
The Business Council of New York State, published
the first installment of Just
The Facts: Key Economic and Social Indicators
for New York State
The state should mandate changes in the New York City teachers'
contract before increasing state aid to city schools, a new
study from the Manhattan Institute concludes.
In fact, the study said, increasing funding of city schools
without structural and managerial reforms will prevent any
improvement in education for youngsters not now receiving
what New York's highest court has said they are constitutionally
entitled to: a "sound basic education
Two
key upstate New York newspapers have editorialized against
a proposed state-government mandate that would require individuals
and businesses to buy electricity from costly renewable sources.
"New
York's Public Service Commission should dismiss New York administrative
law Judge Eleanor Stein's recommendation that by the year
2013, fully 25 percent of retail electricity sales come from
renewable sources," the Ithaca Journal wrote in "Cautious
approach: Good intentions, unrealistic solution," a July 7
editorial
ALBANY—The Business Council today urged Governor Pataki to veto
a "budget reform" measure passed this year by Legislature, arguing that
it would only worsen New York's ongoing problems with high taxes and massive
deficits.
"The recent history of the New York State budget process leaves a lot
to be desired
ALBANY—New
York's workers' compensation costs are far above average, and the dramatic
increase in premiums proposed by New York's Compensation Insurance Rating
Board (CIRB) would make this competitive disadvantage even worse for
New York, The Council told state regulators in testimony today
Some
New Yorkers continue to collect workers' comp benefits even
after they retire and receiving a pension and social security
benefits, costing employers millions each year, according
to a latest in the series of reports on workers' compensation
reform from The Business Council
ALBANY—The
Business Council and its member businesses support efforts to create and
sustain new kinds of renewable energy resources, but fear that higher
energy costs created by renewable energy mandates would hurt New York's
businesses, Ed Reinfurt, vice president of The Business Council, told
the Public Service Commission (PSC) today