The nation's labor unions suffered a
resounding legal setback last month when a federal court overturned
a law that imposed a harsh health-insurance mandate and tax on WalMart,
but New York's unions and union-driven advocacy groups can be expected
to resume their push for a similar bill in New York State next year,
according to The Business Council's health insurance policy specialist
Upstate New York’s population is aging faster than the rest
of the nation, while the number of young working adults declines,
according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
in Buffalo.
The report said that in 2000 Upstate New York’s 65-and-over
population had risen to 14
A mid-July heat wave saw New York State set a new record for single-day
demand for electricity and, in the process, refocus attention on
New York's widely recognized need to increase its electricity-generating
capacity.
On Monday, July 17, New Yorkers' hourly average peak load reached
32,624 megawatts, breaking a record of 32,075 set last summer, said
Jim Smith, a spokesman for the New York Independent System Operator
(NYISO), a non-profit entity charged with overseeing New York's
electricity markets and transmission systems
The Council will host a series of briefings across the state to
review and assess human-resources related legislation introduced
or passed this year, and to discuss how November’s elections
might affect human-resources next year.
The eight August meetings will replace the full-day meetings usually
held during the summer and fall, said Tom Minnick, manager of the
Council’s Center for Human Resources
ALBANY—Proposed changes to the state Taylor Law would drive taxes higher and harm vital public services, the Business Council of New York State said in urging Governor Pataki to veto a number of bills the Legislature approved this session.
"Some of these bills would impose new costs directly," Business Council President/CEO Daniel B
Honorable George E. Pataki
Governor
State of New York
The Capitol
Albany, New York 12224
Dear Governor Pataki:
RE: This year’s flood of anti-taxpayer legislation
As you have said consistently, high taxes hurt New York. They drive jobs away – a key reason our job growth continues to lag the nation’s
New York's liability climate is among the worst in the nation,
and could be damaging the state's already fragile economy, a new
report by the Pacific Research Institute has found.
The study, the U.S.
Tort Liability Index: 2006 Report, ranked states
on 39 variables in five groups including monetary tort losses, threats,
monetary caps, and substantive-law rules
ALBANYNew York's overall state-and-local tax burden remains
the heaviest in the country, and the state ranks at or near the top
in property, income and sales taxes, a new data compilation by the
Public Policy Institute shows.
The Institute, the research affiliate of The Business Council of New
York State, updated its Just The Facts statistics on state
and local taxes in New York and elsewhere
New York’s final state budget increased projected spending
10 percent over last year’s budget, three times the rate of
inflation, according to a new analysis by state Comptroller Alan
G. Hevesi.
The actions taking by lawmakers at the end of the session pushed
spending to about $114
Three pieces of health legislation closely watched by The Business
Council were passed by both houses in the last days of session and
could have an enormous impact on health care in New York if passed
into law, said the Council’s director of government affairs,
Elliott Shaw