The
Assembly Labor Committee split along party lines in voting
on moving a new union-backed bill that would substantially
increase workers' compensation benefits without introducing
any much-needed reforms.
In
a Feb
The
state Senate majority has proposed creating a health insurance
tax credit that would help many businesses with 50 or fewer
employees provide health insurance for their employees.
The
tax credit is the centerpiece of what the Republican majority
called "a comprehensive plan to make health insurance more
affordable and to provide coverage for hundreds of thousands
of New Yorkers who are now uninsured
Businesses in New Jersey, still recovering from huge corporate
tax increases in 2002, will pay about $325 million more in
business taxes under the 2005 state budget, according to a
new report by the New Jersey Business and Industry Association
(NJBIA)
ALBANYTwenty-four
New York State elementary schools in all parts of the state will receive
the highest honor given to schools by New York State's private sector:
the 2004 Pathfinder Award. The Business Council gives this award each
year to honor schools that show marked improvement from one year to the
next on students' standardized test scores
The
Business Council has launched a new Web-based electronic-advocacy
campaign to show lawmakers the strong statewide support for
cost-cutting workers' compensation reform.
The
Council launched the initiative Feb
Governor
Pataki this week hinted that the best way to keep jobs in
New York is to improve the state's business climate, not penalize
companies that move jobs.
"Obviously
we have to fight for every single job, and we're working to
do that by lowering the burden on the state's manufacturers
so they can compete, creating new tools like Empire Zones,
and innovating through our centers of excellence," Governor
Pataki said Feb
Providing the additional $7 billion in school spending that
advocates argue is necessary to provide New York's students
with a "sound basic education," would require lawmakers
to enact the largest tax increase in the history of the state
and lose tens of thousands of jobs, according a new report
by the Manhattan Institute
Developers of the Millennium pipeline project have announced
a two-stage plan that will supply more natural gas to peak
demand areas of New York.
“The new plan will provide much-needed energy to New
Yorkers,” said Johnny Evers, The Council's energy analyst
A new union-backed workers’ compensation bill would
raise compensation benefits without enacting necessary reforms,
according to Elliott Shaw, The Business Council’s director
of government affairs.
“This bill not only raises employers’ cost by
hiking benefits, it also encourages more litigation by employees
and allows the unions to choose an employer’s workers’
comp carrier,” Shaw said
The budget Governor Pataki and the Legislature enact this
year must break the pattern of recent years and be "cautious
with its expenditures," according to a new report by
state Comptroller Alan Hevesi.
The report, which critiqued the Governor's 2004-05 executive
budget proposal, warned that some revenues assumed in the
proposal may not materialize and spending continues to rise
faster than revenues