ALBANY—Eliminating New York's ton mileage tax would help New York
move its recovery into a much faster lane, and New York's business community
is delighted that the state Senate has acted today to do that.
New York is one of only six states that impose the ton mileage tax.
The closest state that imposes such a tax is Georgia
Bulletin #10: June 3, 1999
New York's disproportionate spending on training of MDs
New York spends more on Medicaid than any other state--by far. In fact, our Medicaid spending per capita is $1,177, a staggering 155 percent above the national average and more than Medicaid spending in Texas and California combined
New York State, which is ahead of the curve in the nation's push for education
reform, is going to face a very tough test as a State next year when reality sets
in and we see what an abstract concept like "higher standards" means in
practice. And the rest of the nation is watching what we will do
The state Department of Taxation and Finance Wednesday announced a 30-day
postponement in implementing the state sales tax on energy transmission.
Business Council President Daniel B. Walsh had urged a delay in a May
27 letter to Arthur Roth, acting commissioner of taxation and finance
Bulletin #9: June 1, 1999
We're still paying for big-spending budgets of years ago
New York can't afford another big spending increase. The need to cut our high taxes further and to pay for those tax cuts already enacted is one reason, as previous editions of Spending Watch have pointed out
By John L. Greenthal
Government regulatory agencies usually respond to violations of environmental
requirements through the civil enforcement process.
But those agencies and their prosecutorial partners (including the state
Attorney General and local district attorneys) may also develop cases for
criminal prosecution when the violation is committed intentionally, knowingly,
recklessly, or with criminal negligence
Bulletin #8: May 26, 1999
More state aid won't cut local taxes. Mandate relief will.
New York's biggest single competitive problem is local taxes. All told, the population-adjusted difference between local taxes here, and those in other states, adds up to an extra burden of $25 billion
ALBANY—Without a new approach to worker training, New York risks
losing the full benefits of its recent efforts to improve its business
climate, Ed Reinfurt, vice president of The Business Council, testified
at an Assembly hearing today.
(Click here to view
the testimony)
"In the last five years, New York has taken important steps to put its economy on the
right track," Reinfurt told the Legislative Commission on Skills Development and Career
Education
Bulletin #7: May 24, 1999
To stimulate Upstate, cut taxes. To do that, cut spending.
Upstate's economy was devastated by high taxes in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as shown by an authoritative new report from Governor Pataki's Chief Economist, Dr. Stephen Kagann. Thanks to major tax cuts enacted over the past five years, things are improving
Governor Pataki has proposed two workers' compensation reforms that
are long-time Business Council
priorities: a cap on permanent partial disability payments and use
of objective medical guidelines to determine the degree of impairment
in such cases.
The Governor estimated that the reforms would reduce rates paid by employers
an average 24