Senate Finance Committee and Assembly Ways and Means Committee
February 13, 2001
Chairman Stafford, Chairman Farrell, and honorable members of the committees:
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today.
This hearing is mainly about the future – the decisions you and Governor Pataki will make with regard to taxes and economic development, and how those decisions can best position New York State in the competitive global economy
ALBANYSince
it started cutting taxes seven years ago, New York State "has never had it
so good," and further tax reductions could protect the state's economy if
the nation enters a recession, The Business Council of New York State told
top legislators today.
"New York never
had it so good as we have since we've been cutting taxes," Business Council
Vice President Edward Reinfurt told the Senate Finance Committee and Assembly
Ways and Means Committee
The Business Council has
urged the state Legislature to enact broad reforms to the state's Superfund
program, including dedicated General-Fund financing, use-based cleanup standards,
and liability relief for parties that complete state-approved site cleanups.
Ken Pokalsky, director of
environmental and regulatory affairs, testified Wednesday before a legislative
hearing on environmental issues in the Executive Budget
To avoid the
kind of energy crisis afflicting California, New York must
site more power plants and do so more quickly, a range of
experts on energy policy agreed in a seminar on energy issues
today.
The discussion
was part of a breakfast seminar series sponsored by the Government
Law Center of Albany Law School
State
Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Nassau County) has introduced a bill (S.2064)
to adopt the "single-sales factor" method of apportioning
corporate income in New York State to determine the corporation's
state income taxes
ALBANYBecause
tomorrow's economy will be driven by new technologies that emerge from research
institutions, New York should invest $1 billion over five years in high-tech
research universities and government research laboratories, The Business Council
told lawmakers in testimony today
The state Public Service
Commission (PSC) Wednesday approved a new five-year, $150 million annual
"systems benefit charge" (SBC) on energy to support programs in energy efficiency,
demand reduction, R&D, and affordability for low-income utility customers.
The charge will replace the
current SBC, which is $78 million a year
The New York State Board
on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment has unanimously approved,
with conditions, a new 800 megawatt power plant in Scriba, Oswego County.
The Jan. 17 vote followed
a nine-month environmental and technical review of the project under Article
X of the Public Service Law
Assemblyman Paul Tokasz (D-Cheektowaga),
the new Assembly Majority Leader, told The Council's Government Affairs
Council (GAC) that help for the upstate economy will be one of his top priorities
in his new role.
In one of his first speeches
as Majority Leader, Tokasz addressed the GAC Jan
Governor Pataki proposed
a 2001-02 budget that would cut taxes on manufacturers and other employers,
invest hundreds of millions of dollars in high-technology partnerships between
universities and businesses, and provide significant new incentives for
redevelopment of brownfields while restraining overall spending growth