The Business Council will
oppose any state legislation that would require employers to tap into their
unemployment insurance (UI) or disability insurance accounts to provide
paid family leave.
Last year, President Clinton
directed the U.S. Department of Labor to issue regulations allowing individual
states to use their unemployment insurance trust funds to finance paid family
leave, said Tom Minnick, The Council's specialist in human resources issues
Also seeks more 'Power for Jobs,' new tax cuts and enterprise zones to aid Upstate
Governor Pataki announced today that he will propose the repeal of the state's
Gross Receipts Tax on energy bills, as part of a package focused on stimulating
economic growth in Upstate New York.
Additional elements of the Governor's "21st Century Upstate Economic Agenda" will include more low-cost electric power for business, tax cuts for small business, brownfields incentives, and the creation of Upstate "high-tech enterprise zones" with special tax credits for startup businesses
Halfway through the 2000-01
fiscal year, the state budget has a $437 million cash balance over what
was projected earlier in the year, the Division of the Budget reported.
"Sustained
economic growth continues to produce a favorable fiscal outlook for
the State," DOB said in its 2000-01 Mid-Year Financial Plan
Update, posted on the agency's website October 30
More money for public schools
may not guarantee children a better education, The New York Times
concluded after examining spending increases throughout the New York City
school system over the past four years.
Noting that the city's schools
have seen dramatic increases in spending in recent years, the Times
said its analysis of the new spending found that nearly half had gone for
school aides, administration and student support services
Business
Council President Daniel B. Walsh praised Governor Pataki's veto of
a bill that would have increased trial lawyers' fees in medical malpractice
cases, while decreasing the amounts received by victims.
The Governor
vetoed S.554, which would have repealed existing limits on trial lawyers'
fees in medical, dental and podiatric malpractice cases
Data-gathering
for The Business Council's comprehensive annual survey of employers on pay
and benefits is nearly complete, and the book is targeted for publication
August 30.
The survey, Compensation
Data - New York 2000, will offer comprehensive data from New York employers
on pay levels and practices, pay-increase budgets, other benefits, and related
recruitment and retention issues, said Theresa Worman, client relations
manager for Compdata Surveys of Kansas City, which conducts the survey each
year for The Council
The Business Council is asking
its Energy Committee and its manufacturing members for feedback on bills
that would extend and/or increase a $78 million energy tax that is due to
expire next June.
"We're asking our members
to help frame a position on this tax," said Johnny Evers, The Council's
energy analyst
Here is a look on legislative
action in 2000 on The Business Council's top legislative priorities for
2000.
Gross receipts tax:
A strong Council campaign, including "e-advocacy," persuaded lawmakers to
repeal employers' gross receipts tax and significantly reduce other ratepayers'
GRT
The
state Senate and Assembly adjourned Friday June 23, ending a session
marked by a number of wins for The Business Council and New York's business
climate.
"Lawmakers
have passed some key business-friendly bills and rejected some harmful
ones," said Business Council President Daniel B
ALBANYCalling
the proposed dredging of the Hudson River "the wrong solution to the wrong
problem," The Business Council has urged the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) not to reverse its 16-year-old decision against dredging to remove
PCBs.
Dredging the
river would disrupt recreational and economic activity on a 40-mile stretch
of the river and would cause massive new ecological damage to the river, Business
Council President Daniel B