Business organizations in Buffalo,
Rochester, and Syracuse have unveiled Advance Upstate New York, a new
effort to bolster the upstate economy.The three groups are seeking
legislative action on four issues they consider barriers to economic
growth upstate. Specifically, they are seeking:
Repeal of the gross receipts
tax on utilities to reduce New York's high energy costs
The Business Council has launched a new campaign to remind lawmakers
that drastic increases in state government spending would imperil New
York's economy.
In a briefing paper released
April 8, The Council warned that an unaffordable increase in state spending
this year could lead to "the return of the disaster years" like those
that brought huge tax increases and drastic funding cutbacks throughout
the early 1990s
The Business Council is strongly supporting a new bill that would enact
two critical reforms to the state's workers' compensation law.
The bill sponsored by Senator James Alesi (R-Rochester) and Assemblyman
Robin Schimminger (D-Buffalo) would:
Deny workers' comp claims if the injury or occupational disease
was sustained by an employee during the commission of any illegal act
The Business Council is asking its members to review a new proposal
to enact state tax credits for construction and renovation of "green" buildings.
The bill, which was proposed April 9 by Governor Pataki, is designed
to encourage the environmentally friendly construction and renovation
of commercial office and retail buildings, residential buildings with
12 or more units, and buildings to be used for "public assembly
There have been several signs in Albany in recent weeks to suggest that
momentum for tort reform may be growing.
The New York State Bar Association April 10 voted to continue its opposition
to tort reform-but not before a minority of its members voiced strong
dissent.
The Corporate Counsel and Municipal Law sections of the association
supported some reforms advanced by New
Yorkers for Civil Justice Reform, a coalition that includes The Council
and groups representing municipalities, nonprofit groups, and associations
of physicians, architects, farmers, and many others
ALBANY—An unaffordable increase in state spending this year could
lead to "the return of the disaster years" like those that brought huge
tax increases and drastic funding cutbacks throughout the early 1990s,
The Business Council of New York State said in a briefing
paper released today
Paul M. Nasipak has been named 1999 Small Business Advocate of the Year
by The Business Council and the National
Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).
The award was presented March 30 at Small Business Day, which is organized
in Albany each spring by The Business Council and co-sponsored by NFIB
The Business Council Insurance Fund enjoyed
one of its best years ever in 1998, even though many members are not
taking full advantage of the Fund's competitively priced insurance offerings.
"More than half of Council members buy their employees' life
insurance from The Business Council Insurance Fund," said Bob Crandall,
The Council's director of member services
The Business Council has scheduled its annual Manufacturing Week for
May 7-14. This year, the event will focus on one of the top priorities
of the manufacturing community, tort reform, said Brian McMahon, director
of economic development for The Council and its specialist in manufacturing
Business Council members have
been asked to complete a survey on the effect of federal estate taxes
on business employment levels in New York State.The Business Council
is conducting the research with the Center for the Study of Taxation,
a national not-for-profit research organization