News

31
Jan
2006
Many property owners in New York saw smaller tax increases than in previous years in part because of last year's cap on county Medicaid costs, state Comptroller Alan Hevesi said in a new report. The cap, passed last March by lawmakers, makes the state responsible for any growth in the plan exceeding 3
30
Jan
2006
The state should invest in scholarships to encourage the best and brightest to become math and science teachers as a key step in reversing New York's declining number of math, science, and engineering graduates, Ed Reinfurt, vice president of The Business Council, has told state lawmakers
24
Jan
2006
State Comptroller Alan Hevesi has proposed 21 fiscal and budget reforms that he said would help New York produce better and more timely budgets. The comptroller said his ideas are designed to help “to improve how the Legislature, the Executive and the public actually work together to design and implement the state’s budget
23
Jan
2006
The Business Council is urging its members to understand and address their compliance obligations under the new state lobbying law that may affect businesses and employees that are involved in selling goods and services to state and local governments. “There is no doubt that the new ‘procurement lobbying law’ will affect many employers in New York State that sell goods and services to government in New York, even even for activities by the employer that don’t constitute conventional lobbying,” said Ken Pokalsky, the Council’s specialist in state laws related to lobbying
18
Jan
2006
New York State should radically overhaul its approach to Medicaid and health-care policy to reduce costs while increasing the number of New Yorkers who get taxpayer-funded Medicaid coverage, state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said Wednesday. Recent high-tech advances “have made health care much more expensive for individuals and employers who purchase insurance and for taxpayers who fund the cost of Medicaid and other public health programs,” Spitzer, a Democratic candidate for Governor in 2006, said in a luncheon address before the Chamber Alliance of New York State (CANYS) in Albany
18
Jan
2006
ALBANY—G. Thomas Tranter Jr., president of Corning Enterprises and director of government affairs for Corning Incorporated, has been named chairman of the Government Affairs Council of The Business Council of New York State. In that volunteer role, he will work with Business Council staff and government affairs professionals on the Council’s GAC on a range of policy issues
17
Jan
2006
Arguing that New York’s economy has become too dependent on taxpayer-financed jobs, a top candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor this year told the Business Council Board of Directors that he would make it his top priority to help New York’s private sector create more jobs
17
Jan
2006
Eliot Spitzer, New York State Attorney General and a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor this year, us scheduled to address leaders of New York State's local and regional chambers of commerce Wednesday, Jan. 18, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Albany. Media coverage is invited
17
Jan
2006
Governor Pataki sent the Legislature a 2006-07 Executive Budget that calls for $3.6 billion in tax cuts, including $786 million in business-tax reductions, while providing new funding for math and science education, and advanced research initiatives. Most of the new tax cuts would phase in during the state fiscal years starting in 2007 and 2008
13
Jan
2006
ALBANY—New York State's highest-in-the-nation Medicaid spending now costs an average $2,165 per resident, well over twice the national average, a new Public Policy Institute analysis shows. The Institute analyzed Medicaid spending data for New York and the other 49 states as the latest installment in its Just The Facts series of key economic and statistical indicators for New York