News

06
Jan
2004
The state Assembly Republican conference has proposed creating jobs and boosting the economy with a sweeping program that includes an expanded Empire Zone program, new incentives for manufacturers, a state takeover of all Medicaid costs, and a ban on new unfunded state mandates
06
Jan
2004
Sections 240/241 of the state’s Labor Law expose New York’s property owners and contractors to unfair liability, make business insurance prohibitively expensive if it’s available at all, and drive up everyday costs for taxpayers and all New Yorkers, The Council has told the state Insurance Department
29
Dec
2003
A new tax on stock trades "could be counterproductive and drive markets and trades out of New York," Governor Pataki said last week. "The essential thing is that we be the financial capital of the world," the Governor said
23
Dec
2003
Two-thirds of the states have cut Medicaid and other taxpayer-funded health-care programs to help balance their budgets, according to a study by a liberal public-policy group. Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and Vermont are among the 34 states that are changing eligibility standards, requiring higher premiums and otherwise reducing tax-funded support for health care, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported
22
Dec
2003
Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno announced proposals to limit the growth of state spending on Medicaid and other taxpayer-funded health programs, the biggest contributors to major fiscal problems facing the state, county governments and New York City
19
Dec
2003
Upstate New York is home to the four highest city property-tax burdens in the nation, according to a new study by the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce. The chamber studied 2001 Census Bureau data to rank metropolitan property tax burdens in the top 100 metropolitan areas in the country
18
Dec
2003
The steadily increasing costs of health insurance, a burden of growing concern to employers, is driven to a significant extent by Albany's hidden taxes on health care, according to the sixth briefing paper in The Public Policy Institute's Tax Watch '04 series
18
Dec
2003
New York ranked behind 45 of the other 49 states in population growth from 2002 to 2003, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. The Empire State's growth rate, just below 0.3 percent, was less than one-third that of the nation
16
Dec
2003
Nearly 100 business and health leaders from around the state attended a Business Council conference to discuss regional health collaboration between businesses and health services and how those collaborations can improve healthcare quality and control costs
16
Dec
2003
A new study by scholars from New York University and Stanford University concluded that a stock transfer tax would make shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) less liquid while substantially slashing trading volume and it said such a tax would make other trading markets more important at the expense of the New York market, shrink New York Stock Exchange listings, drive down New York’s overall market quality, and increase market-wide volatility of stock prices