News

10
Mar
1998
ALBANY— Public elementary schools in New York State with high minority populations lag far behind other schools in teaching kids to read, a new study by The Public Policy Institute of New York State shows. The study — Separate and Unequal: The Reading Gap in New York's Elementary Schools — is the first comprehensive statistical analysis of how well New York's high-minority schools teach reading, "the most basic of the three R's
05
Mar
1998
Letters, testimony, legislative memos add to the momentum; the Assembly joins the call Businesses, chambers of commerce and economic developers across the state are generating a groundswell of support for major new tax cuts this year. The momentum for business tax cuts is focused on a major tax-reduction package proposed by Senate Majority Leader Joseph L
05
Mar
1998
The Business Council is urging a change in state environmental policy: elimination of the electric vehicle sales mandate currently imposed on vehicle manufacturers. At present, major automobile manufacturers must market electric vehicles in New York State and must sell or lease at least 16,000 in model years 1998 and 1999
05
Mar
1998
New York State's fair share of federal transportation dollars may be in peril. ISTEA, passed in 1991, expired last September. A six-month extension continued original funding allocations but expires at the end of March. The Business Council is part of the ISTEA Works Coalition, a group of 19 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia with a shared interest in ISTEA funding allocations
05
Mar
1998
The Business Council is urging lawmakers to consider another tax reduction - this time, for the poorest workers in New York State. With a broad coalition that includes advocates for labor, human services, and local governments, The Council urged Governor Pataki and legislative leaders to expand the state's earned income tax credit (EITC)
19
Feb
1998
The Business Council has made an overhaul of the state's unemployment insurance system a top priority in the current legislative session, said Chris Pugliese, manager of government and political affairs at The Business Council
19
Feb
1998
Two Assembly groups are holding hearings on the possible refinancing of the state's environmental "Superfund" this year. The Business Council will testify at one of these hearings. The Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee and the Assembly Commission on Toxic Substances and Hazardous Wastes are jointly sponsoring the hearings to discuss different approaches to refinancing Superfund
19
Feb
1998
New York State businesses consider the state's civil justice system a major impediment to competitiveness because it drives up costs and stifles innovation, a new survey of Business Council members shows. "The need for tort reform has never been more important to businesses and their ability to compete in New York," said Brian McMahon, director of manufacturing and economic development for The Business Council
17
Feb
1998
ALBANY -- A more competitive business environment helped employers in New York create an extra 86,000 jobs in 1997, compared to what would have been gained under the state's former share of the nation's growth, a new analysis by The Business Council of New York State says. And New York could add fully 170,000 additional jobs in 1998, just by attracting its share of the employment gains that economists predict for the national economy this year, The Council said
12
Feb
1998
The Assembly has passed a bill that would increase employers' health care costs by mandating enriched mental health coverage. The Business Council opposes the bill, which goes further than a federal law that took effect last month. The Council also cites the bill's high costs and potential for adding to the number of uninsured in the state, and notes that virtually all employer protections in the federal law were dropped from the Assembly bill