To: The New York State Senate
From: Daniel B. Walsh, President and CEO
Re: Our concerns about new mandates and new entitlements
I am writing to recommend that the Senate reject the health-care bill before you, at least until the Legislature and the public have had time to analyze fully the long-range cost implications of this bill, and to consider alternative ways of expanding health-care coverage
ALBANY—In 1966, Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller proposed, and the
Legislature adopted, a health care program the Governor said would be
“the most comprehensive program of its kind in the nation.”
But the cost quickly escalated beyond even the wildest fears of its few
opponents
Governor Pataki and the legislative leaders announced on Friday afternoon
, December 17, that they had reached agreement on a proposal that will
make modest reductions in the surcharges that employers pay to support
hospitals-and that will also expand health insurance coverage in the
state, financed in part by a stiff increase in cigarette taxes
ALBANY—New York's Medicaid program, the nation's most costly by
far, has become "a monstrous, $24.5 billion budget-buster at both the
state and local levels," a new report from The Public Policy Institute
of New York State says.
To ensure its economic health and the health of all New Yorkers, New
York must rein in Medicaid spending, according to Medicaid: Wreaking
Havoc in Health Care, the new report
Business Council Chairman Peter I. Bijur has written to members of the
Council across the state, urging them to raise their voices in support
of New York's drive for higher standards in the schools.
And this effort was backed this week by a passionate call from former
Governor Hugh L
The Governor's Office of Regulatory Reform (GORR) has launched an on-line
database to give business a "one-stop" resource for addressing questions
on state-required business permits.
The new database, which is at www.nys-permits.org,
is the largest, most comprehensive permit database on the Internet, Governor
Pataki said
Signaling new momentum for mandate relief in Albany, advocates for the
state's school boards and municipalities praised a new study on state
mandates by The Public Policy Institute, and urged lawmakers to enact
the kind of mandate reform proposed in the study.
The book, The $163
Lightbulb: How Albany's Mandates Drive Up Your Local Taxes,
shows that New York could cut local taxes by $5 billion a year and
improve education and other services through mandate reform
ALBANY— New York's business community overwhelming believes that
New York should enact policies designed to rein in skyrocketing costs
of health care and health insurance, and to bring New York's health costs
more in line with the rest of the nation's, a new Business Council survey
shows
ALBANY—A new report by The Public Policy Institute of New York
State (PPI) argues that New York's tough new academic standards are important
to both students and employers, and should be neither relaxed nor delayed.
The report, which comes amid mounting public pressure to relax and/or
postpone the standards, is entitled Straight Talk About Higher Standards
Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno and members of the Senate Majority
have proposed eliminating the state gross receipts tax on electricity
and natural gas, a move that would reduce taxes on utility customers
by $710 million a year.
"The GRT is a hidden tax on consumers and business owners, but its effects
are quite clear: higher utility costs that make it more expensive to
live and create jobs in New York State," Senator Bruno said Dec