Governor
Pataki this week hinted that the best way to keep jobs in
New York is to improve the state's business climate, not penalize
companies that move jobs.
"Obviously
we have to fight for every single job, and we're working to
do that by lowering the burden on the state's manufacturers
so they can compete, creating new tools like Empire Zones,
and innovating through our centers of excellence," Governor
Pataki said Feb
Providing the additional $7 billion in school spending that
advocates argue is necessary to provide New York's students
with a "sound basic education," would require lawmakers
to enact the largest tax increase in the history of the state
and lose tens of thousands of jobs, according a new report
by the Manhattan Institute
Developers of the Millennium pipeline project have announced
a two-stage plan that will supply more natural gas to peak
demand areas of New York.
“The new plan will provide much-needed energy to New
Yorkers,” said Johnny Evers, The Council's energy analyst
A new union-backed workers’ compensation bill would
raise compensation benefits without enacting necessary reforms,
according to Elliott Shaw, The Business Council’s director
of government affairs.
“This bill not only raises employers’ cost by
hiking benefits, it also encourages more litigation by employees
and allows the unions to choose an employer’s workers’
comp carrier,” Shaw said
The budget Governor Pataki and the Legislature enact this
year must break the pattern of recent years and be "cautious
with its expenditures," according to a new report by
state Comptroller Alan Hevesi.
The report, which critiqued the Governor's 2004-05 executive
budget proposal, warned that some revenues assumed in the
proposal may not materialize and spending continues to rise
faster than revenues
Governor
Pataki has proposed a $1.5 million cut to the state's petroleum
business tax (PBT) in his 30-day amendments to the executive
budget.
The
Governor's proposal would eliminate the PBT on jet fuel by
planes that are cruising or landing on in-state flights
The New York State Labor Department will now support paying
unemployment benefits in some cases where an unmarried individual
involved in long-term relationship leaves a jobs to follow
a partner to another locality.
In a letter dated February 9, the Labor Department’s
counsel, Jerome Tracy, told the state’s Unemployment
Insurance Appeals Board that an unmarried individual who leaves
a job to follow a partner can qualify for unemployment benefits
“provided sufficient proof of a long-term committed
relationship exists
Testimony of
Edward Reinfurt
Vice President, The Business Council of New York State, Inc.
Senate Finance Committee
and Assembly Ways and Means Committee
February 10, 2004
Chairman Johnson, Chairman Farrell and distinguished members of the committees, thank you for inviting us to appear before you today
ALBANY— Lawmakers formulating a state budget for 2004-05 must "reject
the idea that increasing the cost of doing business is good for working
New Yorkers," The Business Council told the state Legislature today.
"We ask you
to return to the vision that prevailed in Albany for eight years in a
rowthe understanding that cutting taxes and making our business
climate competitive will give more New Yorkers the jobs they need," Ed
Reinfurt, vice president of The Business Council, said in testimony on
the 2004-05 state budget
The
Business Council is strongly opposing a bill that would use
the state's economic development programs to create isolationist
sanctions against employers that move jobs beyond the state's
borders.
The
bill (S