New
York State needs to substantially increase its electricity-generating
capacity, and state lawmakers should return to Albany as soon
as possible to seek a compromise on a new law to expedite
the siting of power plants, Business Council President Kenneth
Adams argued in a July 12 op-ed in the Albany Times Union
Millennium Pipeline Company has begun building a 182-mile-long,
30-inch-diameter buried natural gas pipeline across New
York's Southern Tier and lower Hudson Valley.
The project will be constructed over the next two years,
with some restoration work extending into 2009
ALBANY—New York State lost a net 225,000 residents in moves to
and from other states during the year ending in July 2006, according to
new Census data. The losses amount to 12 persons for every thousand New
Yorkers, and the total exceeds the population of New York's third-largest
city, Rochester
After
strong advocacy by The Business Council, chambers and other
allies, the Legislature moved towards the end of its regular
session by extending the Power for Jobs program for another
year, and by laying aside a number of anti-employer bills,
including paid family leave, pre-judgment interest in tort
claims, and restrictions on pharmaceutical marketing
Proposals in Albany aimed at
cracking down on pharmaceutical
companies' “gifts” to
doctors would undermine the
quality of health care and damage
the state's
economy, Business Council President
and CEO Kenneth Adams wrote
in an op-ed for the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
The Business Council has launched a new Web-based electronic-advocacy
campaign to show lawmakers the statewide opposition to paid
family leave proposals.
The initiative enables business owners and others to send
letters to elected officials voicing concerns about the
impact paid family leave proposals would have on New York
businesses and asking lawmakers to oppose such proposals
Modest
reforms to the Wicks Law that are being discussed in Albany
represent "a step in the right direction," but provisions
of the proposed law may negate savings, and additional reforms
are clearly needed, especially Upstate, according to Business
Council President Kenneth Adams
Paul
Speranza, vice chairman, general counsel and secretary for
Wegmans Food Markets Inc. and vice chairman of finance on
The Business Council's Board of Directors, has been elected
chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
There is still time to register for The Business Council's
annual Conference on State Taxation June 25-27 at the Gideon
Putnam Resort and Spa in Saratoga Springs.
Barbara G. Billet, acting commissioner of the state Department
of Taxation and Finance, will speak during dinner on Tuesday,
June 26
Business Council President Kenneth Adams held a series
of meetings with Governor Spitzer, legislative leaders and
key Capitol staffers this week to push the Council's top
priorities on energy and other economic development issues,
and to express concern about a number of potential last-minute
proposals that could hurt the state's competitiveness