The Business Council's Manufacturing
Council met this week to work on a new strategic plan, and to address key
legislative and regulatory issues for the remainder of the year.
The May 9 planning discussion centered on getting more participation by
plant managers and other key executives in focused advocacy efforts
Declaring that "this
university can serve you as a powerful tool for economic development,"
State University of New York Chancellor Robert King told a Business Council
audience this week that SUNY is creating a new position that will focus
on helping the business community use university resources in economic development
Cutting New
York's taxes "has been Governor Pataki's constant focus every day,
and it will remain so as long as he holds public office," the head
the state Division of the Budget (DOB) told business and government leaders
at The Business Council's Annual Dinner May 8 in Albany
The noted economist John Maynard Keynes once said, "The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that carries any reward." He's almost right -- but there's just one thing better: cutting taxes, so that no more avoidance is needed.
That has been Governor Pataki's constant focus every day, and it will remain so as long as he holds public office
Arthur Roth,
Commissioner of the state Department of Taxation and Finance, will be a
featured speaker at The Business Council's annual Conference on State Taxation
June 20-22 at the Sheraton in Saratoga Springs.
Advance registration
for this popular annual conference is strongly encouraged, said Ellen Muir,
director of conference development for The Business Council
The Legislature completed
work on the 2000-01 state budget on Friday morning, May 5, enacting a long-sought
repeal of the gross receipts tax on employers' energy utility bills.
The final package also features
a key last-minute addition, repeal of the state sales tax on transmission
and distribution of gas and electricity for commercial customers
The Business Council is urging
state lawmakers to enact new workers' compensation reforms to enhance the
reforms of 1996--and to reject new proposals that would inflate employers'
workers' comp costs.
Before the 1996 reforms,
New York's comp costs were some 57 percent above the national average, said
Kerry Kirwan, The Council's legislative analyst specializing in workers'
comp
ALBANYProposed
school budgets in districts across New York State would increase property
taxes at more than twice the inflation rate, at the same time districts are
receiving a record $1.2 billion increase in aid from the state, a new "School
Tax Watch" study by The Public Policy Institute of New York State finds
The Chamber Alliance of New
York State (CANYS) and The Business Council are planning a Washington "lobby
day" for New York State's business community on June 14.
This will be the first such
lobby day in nearly a decade, according to Denise Murphy McGraw, executive
director of CANYS and director of regional affairs for The Council
Governor George Pataki, Senate
Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver Tuesday
announced agreement on a $77.5 billion state budget that includes $1.2 billion
in new tax cuts and a new debt-reform statute.
The leaders said that legislators
would begin passing bills Wednesday, and Senator Bruno predicted that the
budget would be completed by Thursday or Friday