Albany, NY—The 2014 State Legislative session was very positive on pro-growth issues, according to a legislative scorecard released today by The Business Council of New York State, Inc. that covered both the 2013 and 2014 sessions.
“Our legislative scorecard shows the Legislature made significant progress on issues critical to economic growth, good jobs and strong communities, with two-house passage of a number of priority issues,” said Heather C. Briccetti, Esq., president and CEO of The Business Council. The Business Council's priority issues included business tax reform, controls on state spending, wage law reform and others.
“As in past years, the strongest support for our issues comes from the Senate and Assembly Republican conferences, with a high number of both scoring 80 percent or more, while members of the Independent Democratic Conference also achieved positive scores,”said Ken Pokalsky, vice president of government affairs for The Business Council.
“With two-house passage of a number of Business Council priority bills, we also saw a sharp improvement in scores in the Assembly Democratic conference. Where just 25 Assembly Democrats topped 50 percent pro-business in 2012, in this two-year cycle, all but 14 members scored 50 percent or higher,” said Pokalsky.
Even so, the scorecard illustrates unfinished business in energy, health care and other key policy areas for business. It also illustrates the challenges raised by legislation that would impose new costs and new restrictions on the private sector and further impair the state's economic competitiveness.
The Business Council Legislative Scorecard illustrates how individual legislators voted on Business Council priority legislation, broken out by each Senate and Assembly conference. It also lists the scorecard bills for each session along with a brief description and a tally of floor votes. It covers thirty-eight specific bills over the two year legislative cycle.
“In numerous statewide polls, registered voters consistently cite taxes, jobs and education as their priorities,” said Briccetti.
“Controlling taxes by limiting spending, promoting economic growth to create more jobs and improving educational outcomes in the State are The Business Council's priorities, and our legislative scorecard shows New Yorkers which legislators support those priorities,” said Briccetti.
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