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
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
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
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
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)
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
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
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
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
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