News

22
Mar
2005
Leaders of New York’s business community, county executives from around the state, and representatives of the New York Farm Bureau rallied for cost-cutting Medicaid reform March 22 at the Empire State Plaza in Albany. The Business Council and the New York State Association of Counties organized the rally as part of the Council’s annual Small Business Day
22
Mar
2005
ALBANY—The Business Council is urging the state Legislature to approve the so-called “single-sales factor” tax reform, legislation that would benefit businesses that have made significant commitments to New York State by investing in jobs and facilities. “Single-sales factor” apportionment would make New York a more attractive state for both the location and retention capital investments and jobs, since its eliminates what is in effect a tax penalty for having a significant in-state physical presence, said Daniel B
22
Mar
2005
A farmer, a journalist, a fiscal-policy expert, and a veteran lobbyist discussed how New York’s economic policies affect its economic outcomes—and agreed that the effect has been an unhealthy one for many decades. “In the 1960s, New York State had everything going for it,” said Mark Bitz, a turkey farmer from central New York and, since last fall, a high-profile reform-Albany advocate
21
Mar
2005
New York State could reduce its spending on Medicaid dramatically by emulating Massachusetts, a state well known for traditionally liberal social spending policies and for some of the world’s best hospitals, according to the third installment in the Public Policy Institute’s Medicaid Watch ’05 series
18
Mar
2005
SIX NEW YORK STATE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS TO RECEIVE BUSINESS COUNCIL'S PATHFINDER AWARDS IN SEPARATE CEREMONIES IN APRIL Business Council's Prestigious Award Honors Schools for Educational Improvement ALBANY—Elementary schools in Albany, Brooklyn, Erie, Oswego, Tioga, and Westchester counties will receive The Business Council's 2005 Pathfinder Award in separate ceremonies in April
17
Mar
2005
New York's spending on public schools is second-highest in the country, according to new statistics published by the U.S. Census Bureau. As of 2002-03, New York schools spent an average of $12,140 per pupil. That was 51 percent above the national average, and second only to New Jersey's. New York's schools led the country in per-pupil spending on school employee salaries and wages, according to the Census Bureau
17
Mar
2005
New York State's Medicaid spending is more than twice the national average because of high spending on almost every part of the program, according to the newest report in the Public Policy Institute's Medicaid Watch '05 series. "Medicaid pays for many different programs
16
Mar
2005
As state legislators negotiated the details of their agreement to increase state spending by $1.55 billion more than the Governor proposed in his Executive Budget, Governor Pataki has apparently secured a promise of new federal funding for Medicaid—if legislators agree to his cost-containment proposals
15
Mar
2005
New York State employers remain among the nation’s least optimistic about the likelihood of hiring in the second quarter of 2005, a new nationwide survey from Manpower Inc. shows. The latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, which is conducted quarterly by Manpower Inc
14
Mar
2005
ALBANY—The Public Policy Institute of New York State has launched Medicaid Watch '05, a new series of reports designed to document the case for reforms that reduce overall costs imposed on New York’s taxpayers, businesses, farmers, and county governments. Two one-page reports in the new Medicaid Watch '05 series will be published each week for the next several weeks