Assembly Republicans announced a variety of proposals, including a celebrity advertising campaign and statewide science fair, to stimulate students' interest in areas that promote innovation.
The New Edison Project builds on existing programs, and proposals included in Governor Pataki's budget, to strengthen New York's position as "the leading engine for innovation in the world," Assembly Republican Leader James Tedisco said
Comptroller Alan Hevesi’s office has released a new set of
guidelines for state agencies regarding vendor selection for government
contracts.
The Comptroller’s office said the reforms will “help
ensure state contracts are awarded only to responsible vendors who
have the integrity and capacity to deliver the goods and services
they promise
ALBANYBusinesses in New York labor under heavier cost burdens than those in most competing states, from business taxes and workers' compensation to wages and energy costs, a new "Just The Facts" compilation by the Public Policy Institute of New York State shows.
The Institute, the research affiliate of The Business Council of New
York State, published the latest on-line installment of Just The
Facts: Key Economic and Social Indicators for New York State, available
at www
New York State should implement its new renewable portfolio standard
(RPS) in a way that minimizes increases in New York’s already
high energy costs and ensures that the reliability of New York’s
electricity system is not undermined, The Business Council told
two Assembly committees in testimony today
Despite spending 48 percent more than the per-pupil national average,
New York ranks 24th in academic achievement among the 50 states
and the District of Columbia, a new analysis of education by the
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) shows.
"Again this year, [ALEC's] Report Card on American Education
finds no evident correlation between increasing conventional measures
of educational inputs—such as dramatic increases in education
spending or keeping pupil-teacher ratios at a very low level—and
improving student achievement—such as average scores on standardized
tests," Georgia State Representative and 2005 ALEC Chairman
Earl Ehrhart wrote in the report's introduction
The first element in helping New York create an innovation-driven
economy is making businesses more competitive by reducing the state’s
“excessive” property tax burden, lowering energy costs,
reforming workers’ compensation and lowering the cost of health
insurance, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said in remarks before
business leaders at the Rochester Institute of Technology
New York State will continue to lag far behind the rest of the nation in creating jobs this year and in 2007, the state's fiscal experts and independent economists agreed.
Leaders of Governor Pataki's Budget Division and the Legislature's fiscal committees heard from outside economic experts Wednesday, in the state's annual Economic and Revenue Consensus Forecasting Conference, after the legislative analysts issued their own forecasts
A new coalition of business leaders and associations Wednesday
urged state lawmakers to enact cost-cutting workers’ compensation
reforms.
“New York State’s broken workers’ compensation
system is costing jobs, hurting businesses, and treating injured
workers unfairly, and it is in desperate need of reform,”
the coalition said in a release
The Republican Senate Majority has strengthened its proposal to
reduce New York’s tax burden, saying its revised plan would
return $8.4 billion to property taxpayers, businesses, and energy
consumers.
The Senate's plan includes a proposal to eliminate income taxes
on manufacturers, saving them an estimated $600 million a year
The overall business-tax climate in New York is the worst among the 50 states, and that's bad news for the state's economic performance, a new report by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation concludes.
"Although the market is now global, the Department of Labor reports that most mass job relocations are from one U