Council
members with questions on understanding and implementing the
state’s new smoking ban can call The Council’s
toll-free Resourceline.
"This
is a powerful benefit of Council membership, especially at
times like this, when new bills create new questions and new
work for HR professionals," said Tom Minnick, manager
of The Council's Center for Human Resources and operator of
the Resourceline
The
availability of physicians in upstate New York varies greatly
by location, according to a new report by Excellus BlueCross
BlueShield.
The
report, Physician Supply in Upstate New York, surveyed most
areas in upstate to determine the number of physicians per
100,000 population
Closing
Indian Point Energy Center would drastically reduce New York’s
electricity supply and have significant negative effects on
the economy, according to experts.
Peter
Huber, of the Manhattan Institute, and Mark Mills, from Digital
Power Capital, validated concerns The Business Council has
voiced since activists first began lobbying lawmakers to close
the Westchester County plant
New York ranks lower than most other states in terms of "business
tax friendliness," because of both the cost and complexity
of taxes businesses must pay, a study by the Tax Foundation
finds.
Only
six of the 50 states rank below the Empire State in the foundation's
first annual State Business Tax Climate Index
New York State employers will pay almost $1.4 billion in
health-insurance taxes as a result of a two-year extension
of the controversial Health Care Reform Act (HCRA), an analysis
by a health insurance trade group shows.
Empire State employers were already paying nearly $1
The state Insurance Department has rejected a proposal to
increase workers' compensation rates by 11 percent for 2003-2004,
ruling that current rates will remain in place.
But the workers' comp assessment, a tax on premiums that
all employers must also pay as part of overall comp costs,
will increase by 10 percent, from 13 percent to 14
Daniel B. Walsh, president/CEO of The Business Council, has
been asked to serve on an advisory panel that will work with
a state Senate task force on Medicaid reform.
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno created the bipartisan,
40-member advisory panel in June to work with the Senate's
task force
Despite real savings created by reforms in 1996, New York's
workers' compensation costs remain far above the national
average and a significant competitive disadvantage for the
state, The Business Council has told state officials in testimony
New Jersey, still suffering the effects of last year's sweeping
business tax increases, took new steps this year that are
likely to drive taxes higher.
The Garden State managed to increase taxes this year without
raising broad-base taxes as it did last year
Internal migration patterns consistently show that Americans
move out of states with high taxes and flock to states with
lower taxes, a recent study by an Ohio University economist
shows.
"While many focus on federal income taxes during April, people
living in high tax states are literally moving to places where
the burden is lower," said Marc Duff of the Taxpayers Network,
which commissioned the study by Ohio University economist
Richard Vedder