A number of issues of interest to business
remained unresolved Thursday, June 15, as the legislative session began
winding down.
The state Senate adjourned early Thursday,
and the Assembly was expected to suspend activities later in the day.
However, legislative action on these
outstanding issues remains a distinct possibility
to EPA administrator Carol Browner urging the EPA to reaffirm its 1984 decision not to dredge the Hudson River to remove PCBs
Ms. Carol Browner
Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Washington, DC 20460
Dear Ms. Browner:
RE: The Business Council opposes dredging to remove PCBs in the Upper Hudson River
For several years, The Business Council has been carefully monitoring your agency's reassessment of its 1984 decision against dredging to remove PCBs in the Upper Hudson River
The
Business Council is opposing several proposals to impose a
new tax on energy, nullifying much or all of the savings expected
from repeal of the energy gross receipts tax (GRT) on employers.
Two separate but similar bills
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The Business
Council is urging the state Legislature to reject proposals for a huge increase
in the state's minimum wage.
The Council
is also urging its members to contact lawmakers and convey the same message.
Members of The Council's Small Business Committee and its Labor and Human
Resource Committee have already been asked to call or write state lawmakers
to voice opposition to the proposals
The Business
Council is surveying its members in the construction industry to evaluate
how recent changes in workers compensation law are affecting this
industry.
The survey was sent to members of the New York State Construction Industry
Council (NYSCIC) May 25, said Johnny Evers, The Councils legislative
analyst who oversees the construction industry
Legislative
proposals designed to protect consumers' privacy should be carefully crafted
to avoid imposing needless or unintended restrictions on commerce, The Business
Council advised state lawmakers this week.
Four representatives
of The Business Council delivered this message in joint testimony June 7
before three Assembly committees
Wednesday, June 7, 2000; 10:00 a.m.
Legislative Office Building Hearing Room C Albany, New York
Chairwoman Pheffer, Chairman Parment, Chairman Sweeney, members of the committees. My name is Edward Reinfurt and on behalf of The Business Council of New York State, Inc. I want to thank you for the holding this hearing on a topic which is receiving increasing attention in capitols throughout the nation and the world
The Business Council plans
to testify at a hearing that the Assembly will conduct June 7 on the privacy
interests of individuals who conduct business on the Internet.
The hearing will take place
at 10 a.m. in Hearing Room C of the Legislative Office Building in Albany.
It is being sponsored by the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection,
the Committee on Oversight, Analysis and Investigation, and the Assembly
Legislative Commission on Science and Technology
New York State's
business community, research institutions, and state government should collaborate
to develop a statewide "corridor" of new research and business
activity to foster new research and business development related genomics
and the life sciences, a Cornell University scientist has proposed
The Business Council is strongly
supporting a bill that would allow New York businesses to buy "business
interruption" insurance against economic losses stemming from government
actions in response to emergencies.
The bill (S.7576) was originally
a Governor's program bill