Two recently published stories in the New York Times chronicling
the demise of the Upstate economy and the region’s startling
population loss rely heavily on data from The Business Council and
its research affiliate, the Public Policy Institute.
A June 11 article by Times reporter Sam Roberts noted
“When Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat, likened
upstate New York to Appalachia earlier this year, some Republicans
accused him of city-centric elitism
Out-migration of young people is threatening the health of Upstate
New York, the New York Times in an article chronicling
the population losses in Upstate New York.
“From 1990 to 2004, the number of 25-to-34-year-old residents
in the 52 counties north of Rockland and Putnam declined by more
than 25 percent,” the June 13 story by Times reporter
Sam Roberts said
Leading members of the state Senate and Assembly say they are introducing
and pushing the comprehensive debt-reform packaged proposed by state
Comptroller Alan Hevesi.
The legislation, which is being sponsored by state Senator Thomas
Libous (R-Broome County) and Assemblyman Joseph Morelle (D-Monroe
County), includes a proposed constitutional amendment to limit overall
state debt, and a statutory requirement that would reduce new borrowing
in coming years
After identifying New York’s escalating property taxes as
a top priority for their campaigns, the two leading candidates for
governor have detailed plans to relieve taxpayers’ burden
and curb tax growth.
Democratic candidate Eliot Spitzer’s plan would increase
STAR exemptions for homeowners under a certain income level
After identifying New York’s escalating property taxes as a top priority for their campaigns, two candidates for governor have detailed individual plans which they say will alleviate taxpayers’ burden and curb tax growth.
Democratic candidate Eliot Spitzer’s plan would increase STAR exemptions for homeowners under a certain income level
Governor Pataki has vetoed a bill that would have added an estimated
52,000 workers to the state payroll and could have threatened some
$300 million in federal aid.
The Council had urged the Governor to veto the bill earlier this
month.
The bill, which was passed by the Senate unanimously in March and
by the Assembly in late April after a lobbying campaign led by the
United Federation of Teachers, declares that home day-care providers
who earn at least some of their income from public subsidies will
become state employees, subject to the state's Taylor Law
The state Insurance Department has scheduled a June 28 hearing
in New York City to hear testimony on a proposal to increase New
York's workers' comp premiums by 7.5 percent, and a tax-like "assessment"
added to workers' comp bills by another 6.3 percent
State legislators should reject new health-insurance mandate bills
that would create huge increases in employers' taxes and health
insurance costs, and instead explore the potential in the health-insurance
policy innovation recently approved in Massachusetts, The Business
Council's health-policy specialist said in legislative testimony
today
ALBANYNew York once again leads the nation in combined state and
local taxes, and the total burden is now over $100 billion, the latest
authoritative data from the U.S. Census Bureau show.
The data for fiscal 2004, released today by the Census Bureau, put New
York’s per-capita tax burden at $5,260, 53 percent above the national
average of $3,447