Fresh from a successful legislative session in which lawmakers addressed
many Business Council priorities, The Council is again asking its members
for input in developing new priorities for future sessions.
"The Business Council is a member-driven organization, and that means
that we pursue a legislative agenda that is based on priorities that
are set by our members," said Elliott
A
The Business Council is creating a new Coalition for Mandate Reform
that will unite local government and business leaders in a grassroots
campaign for relief from state mandates that drive up government costs
and property taxes.
The Council has asked chambers of commerce around the state to play
leading roles in the effort
A call for higher standards for public school teachers to match new
higher standards for students is "an important step forward in the effort
to improve the quality of public education," according to Margarito
Mayo, The Business Council's specialist in education issues.
But Mayo said that standards for teachers can be raised without undermining
or eliminating existing alternative certification methods for teachers
Gov. George Pataki has agreed to present the keynote address Wednesday,
September 16, at The Business Council's Annual Meeting at the Sagamore
in Bolton Landing, New York.
At the annual meeting, which is open to all Business Council members,
Business Council leaders will outline future plans, and discuss what
can be expected from state lawmakers in the year ahead
Strong opposition from The Business Council and many other groups helped
quash a number of trial lawyer-backed bills designed to expand liability
and, in the process, fatten trial lawyers' portfolios and bottom lines.
Opposition to expanded liability was so strong that the broader initiative
of tort reform gained considerable momentum, said Business Council President
Daniel B
A proposal to change the basis of employers' workers' comp premiums from payroll to "hours worked" has been rejected by the Legislature.
The Business Council had strongly opposed the hours-worked proposal, arguing that since workers' comp is intended to replace lost wages, employers' taxes for workers' comp should be based on wages
The Business Council has scored a major victory on one of its top legislative
priorities: a comprehensive unemployment insurance (UI) reform bill.
Governor Pataki is expected to sign the bill, which would:
Create new, more balanced UI tax tables.
Reform disqualification procedures so all employers whose accounts
might be tapped for benefits can introduce disqualifying evidence
in an applicant's benefits hearing
Employers oppose
new government intrusion into the health-care market because
private-sector efforts have improved quality and held back
the growth in health costs, Business Council staff told
national journalists at two recent forums
ALBANY A new agreement between The Business Council and the New York State
AFL-CIO on a bill to reform the state's unemployment insurance (UI) system "will bring
New York's unemployment insurance system into the 21st century and save employers
millions of dollars in the process," according to Daniel B
As the Legislative session nears an adjournment scheduled for June 18, The
Council is sustaining its efforts to convince lawmakers to reject a bill that
would expand HMO liability.
The bill would impose a new and higher liability
standard for decisions that arise from a health-care
contract, said Elliott A