ALBANYProposed
school budgets in districts across New York State would increase property
taxes at more than twice the inflation rate, at the same time districts are
receiving a record $1.2 billion increase in aid from the state, a new "School
Tax Watch" study by The Public Policy Institute of New York State finds
The Chamber Alliance of New
York State (CANYS) and The Business Council are planning a Washington "lobby
day" for New York State's business community on June 14.
This will be the first such
lobby day in nearly a decade, according to Denise Murphy McGraw, executive
director of CANYS and director of regional affairs for The Council
Governor George Pataki, Senate
Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver Tuesday
announced agreement on a $77.5 billion state budget that includes $1.2 billion
in new tax cuts and a new debt-reform statute.
The leaders said that legislators
would begin passing bills Wednesday, and Senator Bruno predicted that the
budget would be completed by Thursday or Friday
ALBANY
The Business Council today called on the legislature to adopt needed reforms
to the states Superfund program as part of any refinancing effort.
These reformswhich are being adopted by an increasing number of stateswould
base cleanups on actual risks at a site, provide post-cleanup liability releases,
and reduce or eliminate liability for entities that did not cause contamination
The Council is asking members
and state lawmakers to consider a recent speech on privacy by Louis Gerstner,
chairman and CEO of IBM, in ongoing discussions of privacy issues.
Earlier his month, Business Council President Daniel B. Walsh sent state
legislators and Council members a reprinted speech on privacy that Gerstner
gave last month
The
Business Councils electronic-advocacy campaign
to encourage repeal of the states gross receipts tax
(GRT) on energy is continuing, with 1329 persons having sent
24,207 pro-repeal letters to lawmakers and their staff
A new employer-driven workforce
development program created last year by the Legislature is seeking requests
for grants to support training by employers.
The Strategic Training Alliance Program was established last year as part
of the J2K program championed by Senate Majority Leader Joseph
Bruno and Democratic Assemblyman Robin Schimminger (D-Erie)
The Business Council is opposing
two legislative proposals that would authorize so-called "citizens'
suits" for various violations of various state environmental laws.
The Council's environmental committee is sponsoring a meeting at 11 a.m.
Wednesday, May 3, at Council headquarters to discuss the bill and strategies
for opposing it, said Ken Pokalsky, director of environmental and regulatory
affairs for The Council
A wide-ranging
new survey of upstate residents by Utica pollster John Zogby and Colgate
University shows that upstate New Yorkers' concerns closely mirror the top
priorities of The Business Council.
In the poll,
which was released April 25, taxes (cited by by 29% of respondents) and
the economy and jobs (cited by 23% of respondents) were by far the top responses
to the question, "in your opinion, what is the top issue facing New
York State?" The issue ranked next-highest was education
(cited by 9
The
Business Council is asking its members to identify the issues
they consider top priorities for legislative action after
agreement is reached on a state budget.
Albanys agenda after a budget is passed offers
both risk and opportunity for business, said Business
Council President Daniel B