ALBANY—High
academic standards and standardized tests based on them are essential
to New York's efforts to prepare schoolchildren for jobs and higher learning,
and New York should emphatically reject pressure to weaken its commitment
to standards or testing, The Business Council is arguing before state
lawmakers
Medicaid
policy in New York focuses too much on how high spending can
go and not enough on quality and cost containment, The Business
Council has told the state Senate's Medicaid task force.
"Our
Medicaid discussion should focus on making patient care more
effective and more affordable," Business Council President
Daniel B
New York State should not need tax increases this year, the
leaders of the state Senate and Assembly said separately this
week.
"Having done a temporary increase last year, I don't think
we should be going back to the well this year," Assembly Speaker
Sheldon Silver told an Albany radio station Oct
ALBANY - Heidi A. Nauleau, chairman of the Aarque Companies based
in Jamestown, Chautauqua County, has been elected chairman of The Business
Council of New York State for the next 12 months. Paul S. Speranza Jr.,
secretary and general counsel for Wegmans Food Markets, Inc
Squandered surpluses, late budgets, and structural deficits
have caused New York’s current fiscal crisis, according
to state Comptroller Alan Hevesi’s new report on the
financial condition of the state.
The annual report assesses the state’s ability to fulfill
future financial and service obligations while maintaining
a balanced budget
New York State is one of the most anti-entrepreneurial environments
in the nation, according to a new report by the Small Business
Survival Committee (SBSC).
New York ranked 45 on the list of 51 business environments
in the study
The Business Council is planning a series of one-day seminars
designed to help labor and human resource professionals deal
with complex issues in labor and employment law and benefits
administration.
Seminars have been scheduled for Poughkeepsie (Oct
Top experts on school funding in New York State disagreed
sharply on the likely course of future debate on the topic
during a panel discussion Sept. 18 at The Business Council’s
Annual Meeting.
The discussion was prompted by a June decision by the state
Court of Appeals holding that New York City is not adequately
teaching its schoolchildren, and that the city and state must
do more to ensure a “sound basic education” for
those students
In an effort to help local school districts reign in spending,
Chautauqua County Chamber has given every school board member
in the county a copy of Leadership for the Schools We
Need, a handbook for business leaders considering running
for school boards
The August 14 blackout reinforces the need for improvements
to New York’s electricity generating capacity and transmission
systems, a top official from New York’s Independent
System Operator (ISO) has told The Business Council.
In particular, New York State needs to find a way to encourage
investments in transmission upgrades, add more generating
capacity, and replace its expired plant-siting law to facilitate
the siting of generating facilities, Garry Brown, vice president
for strategic development at the Independent System Operator
said Sept