Bulletin #19: July 14, 1999
We can't leave banks and insurers out of coming tax cuts
More than 99 percent of incorporated businesses in New York will see their state tax rate decline in the coming year. The business tax reductions enacted last year, thanks primarily to the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Bruno, will cut taxes for some 500,000 employers
Bulletin #18: July 12, 1999
Our taxes are lower - but New York is still a high-tax state
It's hard to imagine that New York's 1999-2000 budget might not include another major round of tax cuts. Hard to imagine, because - despite a lot of progress in recent years - our taxes are still the highest in the country
The Business Council has resumed an intensive Web-based "electronic
advocacy" project designed
to refocus lawmakers' attention on the need for further tax reductions
this year.
The renewed "e-advocacy" campaign was begun after
budget negotiations broke down late last month
Assemblyman Robin Schimminger (D-Erie) has urged Assembly Speaker Sheldon
Silver to ensure that "an appropriate level" of funds is set aside for
tax relief in any conference-committee discussions on the state budget.
"A fair but favorable tax code is the most key component to creating
the job-creation climate we mutually desire for our state," Schimminger
said in a letter to Silver June 30
R. Carlos Carballada, a top executive with M&T Bank and former Chancellor
of the state Board of Regents, has agreed to serve as chairman of The
Business Council's Education Committeeand
as The Council's chief advocate for higher standards in the education
system
The state
Department of Health's annual
report on managed care in New York shows that health plans are
continuing to improve the quality of care and are improving their
ability to measure plan performance.
The 1997 Quality Assurance Reporting Requirements
(QARR) report shows that statewide commercial quality rates compare
favorably with national benchmarks and statewide Medicare rates show
noticeable improvements
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)
has $1 million available to co-fund projects that develop, improve or
commercialize solar products or wind technologies, or that develop manufacturing
methods for these products.
Eligible technologies include: photovoltaics and solar thermal electric
systems; components of photovoltaic and solar thermal systems; products
that involve photovoltaics; wind energy conversion devices and components;
and products that support wind energy systems and power plants
ALBANY—Business is dismayed that lawmakers, wrangling over a surplus
created by prosperity, are apparently talking little about tax reduction,
the policy likeliest to expand our prosperity.
Governor Pataki and the Legislature have enacted major tax-reduction
plans in each of the past five years' budgets
A proposed rate increase in New York's workers' compensation rates should
focus policymakers' attention on the need for further reform, according
to Elliott
Shaw, director of government affairs for The Business Council.
Business is concerned about "the potential return
to doubledigit rate shock," Shaw said in prepared
testimony to be delivered today at a hearing of the New York
Compensation Insurance Rating Board (NYCIRB)
Assemblyman Robin Schimminger (D-Erie) has urged Assembly Speaker Sheldon
Silver to ensure that "an appropriate level of avails" is set aside for
tax relief in conferencecommittee discussions on the state budget. "A
fair but favorable tax code is the most key component to creating the
jobcreation climate we mutually desire for our state," Schimminger said
in a letter to Silver Wednesday