At The Business Council, it is the collective influence of our members that makes our advocacy effective.
When we asked for tax cuts and regulatory reform, Albany listened. Why? Because they know this plea comes not from a lobbying staff in Albany, but from you, our members. They know our agenda is the collective voice for the hopes and concerns of all New York employers in every business sector and in every corner of the state.
In the year ahead, we'll need our members' strength more than ever.
We'll seek more tax cuts, more workers' compensation reform, and new tort reforms.
We'll urge an unwavering commitment to excellence in our schools. To the new academic standards that signify excellence. And to and tests that measure achievement meeting those standards.
We'll seek environmental policies that foster a clean environment without unduly hampering competitiveness.
And, as we pursue this new progress, we'll also urge Albany to resist the temptation to un-do the progress we've made improving New York's business climate these last seven or eight years.
But we won't succeed without help from you, our members.
Your help is especially critical this year for several reasons.
First, if the economy continues to falter, Albany's revenues will fall below the levels to which we've become accustomed. This will surely create momentum for the tax-and-spend advocates. They will want Albany to reverse its recent tax cuts, to raise taxes anew, or both.
Tax-and-spend campaigns will be especially vocal in the year ahead - because pressure to spend always swells in an election year.
The fact is, on everything we fought for in the last 12 months . . . and even the last several years . . . New York's business community could lose ground in the year ahead.
We expect tough challenges on taxes.
And we expect continued challenges to our new academic standards in schools, and to the performance tests that measure our kids' progress in meeting these standards.
We know our efforts for workers' comp reform will meet stiff resistance - and, in all likelihood, a new labor campaign to increase workers' comp benefits.
And we know that our commitment to adding more electric generating capacity, faster, will be countered by some environmental groups promoting what I call the California delusion: the belief that you can have a growing economy without more power.
With your help, we've met big challenges in the past.
We persuaded Albany that lowering taxes would increase prosperity, and then we all showed them the statistics that proved it.
In 1996, we convinced Albany that workers' compensation reforms would reduce costs. We were right. But comp costs, although lower, are still too high.
We can do all this again. Despite the uncertain economy and election-year realities, business can keep its winning streak alive. Every year for the better part of a decade, New York has significantly improved its business climate.
With your help, with your continued support and commitment, we can do it again.