The
Business Council and other leading business groups in New
York are strongly resisting a late maneuver to weaken a compromise
"mental health parity" bill in the waning hours of the legislative
session this week
Besides
proposing a 29 percent increase in workers' compensation premiums,
the New York State Compensation Insurance Rating Board (CIRB)
has also proposed a 6 percent increase in workers' comp "assessments,"
a tax on workers' comp premiums that all employers must pay
The Business Council is asking Governor Pataki to veto a
bill passed by both houses of the Legislature that would extend
a ban on the use of plastic piping in commercial construction
and development.
The bill, which is opposed by a coalition of building contractors
and manufacturers, is a continuation of a bill passed three
years ago under pressure from unions
Acting at the request of a powerful hospital workers' union,
the Assembly has introduced legislation that would increase
the state’s debt by $1 billion to buy new health-related
technology and relieve hospital operating deficits.
The bill, A
New York’s “vicarious liability law” costs
consumers more than $130 million a year and has led to a 36
percent decline in the number of vehicles leased in New York
each year, according to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
(Alliance) and the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association
(GNYADA)
New York's hefty investment in public schools and school
aid increases at twice the inflation level "have not
purchased significant achievement," according to a new
analysis by the Rochester-based Center for Governmental Research.
New York has raised school aid over the past decade at twice
the rate of inflation leading to per pupil spending that is
41 percent above the national average, the analysis said
The
Republican Senate Majority has launched a new push for a package
of tax cuts and tax credits it says would be valued at $1
billion when fully effective.
"Some
critics might say it's late in the session to be talking about
tax cuts, but there is never a bad time to cut taxes," Senate
Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said at a June 15 news conference
touting the plan
U.S. small businesses pay up to 68 percent of all tort liability
costs borne by business, even though they bring in only 25
percent of the nation’s total business revenue, according
to a new survey by the United States Chamber of Commerce Institute
for Legal Reform
ALBANY—Hatch
Leonard Naples, Inc., a full-service insurance agency headquartered in
Rochester and with offices in Buffalo, Syracuse, and Albany, has received
the Business Council Insurance Fund's 2003 Top Producer Award.
The honor
was presented to the agency in May in recognition of the organization's
outstanding sales performance and contributions to the growth of The Council's
Insurance Fund
To
help rein in workers' comp costs that are among the nation's
highest on a costs-per-case basis, New York State should
require the use of objective medical guidelines to evaluate
injuries and illnesses in workers' comp cases, according
to the latest in a series of reports on workers' compensation
reform from The Business Council