More
than 600 people from New York State businesses, state government,
and local chambers of commerce attended The Business Council's
Public Policy Institute Forum and State Chamber Dinner May
13 in Albany.
Three
major leaders in the business communityJames W
The
Legislature overrode Governor George Pataki's vetoes to impose
the first increases in state personal-income and sales taxes
in three decades, along with targeted increases in business
taxes.
Despite
multi-million-dollar lobbying campaigns by public-employee
unions, however, The Business Council was successful in persuading
legislators not to adopt the "New Jersey plan" of
major, across-the-board corporate tax increases
ALBANYThree major leaders in the business communityJames W. Kinnear,
Muriel Siebert, and Eric Mowerwill address a major forum in Albany on
"Corporate Leadership and Ethics." The event is set for Monday, May 12, from
3:30 to 5:15 p.m. in Hearing Room "C" of the Legislative Office Building
Governor
George Pataki today promised "extensive vetoes" of the state
Legislature's budget plan, saying it includes state tax increases
that cannot be temporary and that its failure to reform Medicaid
would drive county property taxes higher
The administration
of Governor George Pataki will review the new $93 billion legislative
budget plan and tax increase line by line to determine whether and what
to veto, the Governor said Friday. He said that some parts of the budget
are unconstitutional.
When he might
act, and whether he would veto the whole budget bill or only line items,
will await a review of the bill, he said
ALBANYAmid growing evidence that students who learn from and with computers
do better in math, writing, and other areas of learning, New York State should
consider a long-range plan to assign individual students their own computers,
a new report from The Public Policy Institute of New York State concludes
New
Jersey's huge corporate tax increases in 2002 did significant
economic damage to the Garden State, a new study shows.
The
report validates concerns The Business Council has voiced
since unions and other pressure groups began pushing the same
tax increases in New York
The
state Legislature's budget plan would impose the largest tax
increase in state history, $3.3 billion, and that increase
would kill more than 100,000 jobs statewide during the next
two years, a new report from the state Division of the Budget
says
Text of a Memorandum sent to New York State Legislature from Daniel B. Walsh dated April 30, 2003.
April 30, 2003
TO: Members of the Legislature
FROM: Daniel B. Walsh
RE: Freeze taxes, don't raise taxes
For nine straight years, the New York State Legislature has cut taxes so that working men and women would have a better chance at a good job in the Empire State
Growing
momentum for tort reform in Albany appeared to accelerate
further this week as the Buffalo News began a series of comprehensive
editorials supporting sweeping civil justice reform.
In
a May 1 editorial, the newspaper recommends sweeping reforms,
including: caps on noneconomic; repeal of the law preventing
contractors from introducing evidence of worker negligence
in workplace injuries; limitation or abolition of joint and
several liability, vicarious liability, and other theories
based on "deep pockets;" movement toward no-fault
medical malpractice; movement of suits against municipalities
to the Court of Claims; and consideration of restrictions
on contingency fees