Assembly Minority Leader John Faso says the state Thruway Authority would need
no toll hike if it gave responsibility for state canal operations back to the
state.
On Tuesday, Governor Pataki asked the Thruway Authority to reconsider its proposed toll
increase.
"The Governor has asked us to look at alternatives to toll increases to fund vital capital projects
on the Thruway, and we are doing so," Thruway Authority Chairman Lou Tomson said
Bill addresses labor concern and preserves key '98 reforms
that save business millions
Governor Pataki has signed into law a bill that modifies
the state's 18-month-old unemployment insurance (UI) system
while preserving key elements of the historic UI reforms
of 1998
Any Superfund refinancing and brownfield reform should emphasize appropriate
cleanup standards, fair funding, and reformed liability limits for parties
that clean sites, The Business Council has told legislative leaders. In a Feb.
15 letter to lawmakers on environmental proposals in the Executive Budget, Ken Pokalsky, The Council's director of environmental and regulatory programs, argued that:
Cleanup standards should reflect the planned use of the site
ALBANY - New York State lawmakers should continue nurturing New York's economic
recovery by further reducing New York's tax burden, especially by eliminating the gross receipts
tax (GRT) on energy, Business Council President Daniel B. Walsh said in testimony to be
delivered Tuesday in a hearing on economic development
Senate Finance Committee
and Assembly Ways and Means Committee
Chairman Stafford, Chairman Farrell, and honorable members of the committees:
Two weeks ago, the Legislature delivered an early Valentine's Day message to an important group of New Yorkers. It was a message that said New York loves you, and we want you to stay here
Syracuse
University Press has launched an ambitious effort to produce The Encylopedia
of New York State-the first reference work of its kind to be published
in more than 50 years.
The publishers
say their purpose is to produce an "informational Erie Canal," to
bind the state together and show the linkages among all regions and
all peoples of the state
The Business Council
has analyzed tax-related proposals in Governor Pataki's 2000-2001 Executive
Budget.
The four-page
summary was prepared by Rich Schwarz, The Council's expert in state taxation.
It analyzes proposals related to:
The alcoholic
beverage tax
Some 92 percent
of New York State's high-school seniors have passed a tough new English
Regents test they must successfully take before graduating.
"This shows
that our students can meet this challenge, and that it's unwise, unnecessary,
and unfair to them to relax or postpone the standards," said Margarita Mayo,
The Business Council's education specialist
New York's
infamous "death tax," a long-standing tax-cut priority of The Business
Council, expired this month.
In fact,
thanks to legislation effective February 1, New York's estate taxes are
now as low as any other state's-and less costly than those in states such
as Connecticut, New Jersey, Ohio and North Carolina
Debate is
continuing in Albany about proposals to increase Thruway tolls and to relieve
New York's counties of a huge unfunded mandate created by the new Health
Care Reform Act (HCRA).
A proposal
from the Thruway Authority would increase tolls 1.8 percent in June, and
allow future annual increases of up to 3 percent based on a 12-month average
of construction costs in 20 U