New
York's securities industry is driving the economic boom downstate and generating
much of the tax revenues swelling Albany's surplus. But the industry is creating
more jobs in other states, and New York risks losing even more growth in this
industry unless a key tax reform is enacted, a new report concludes
Assembly legislation calling for repeal of the gross receipts tax on
energy utility bills has drawn support from 39 members of the majority
conference, Assemblyman Robin Schimminger, chief sponsor of the measure,
has announced.
Meanwhile, The Business Council and chambers of commerce around the
state began inviting businesses to use a new e-lobbying system
to contact members of the Legislature on the GRT issue
Malcolm Wilson, 50th governor of New York State and a longtime member
of the Board of Trustees of The Public Policy Institute of New York State,
died March 13.
"Governor Wilson brought commitment and class to state government," said
Business Council President Daniel B. Walsh
The Republican Assembly Minority has proposed a $1.38 billion tax-cut
program that includes the elimination of the energy gross receipts tax
this year and a suspension of state sales taxes on gasoline and diesel
fuel for the coming summer.
"Business leaders keep telling us that elimination of the gross receipts
tax on energy is the single most important action the state can take
to spur job growth - and we're listening," said Assembly Minority Leader
John Faso
Restoring health-quality grants The Business Council and two western
New York health-care groups are urging lawmakers to fund two grant programs
designed to seek new ways to measure and improve health-care quality.
The Business Council, the Niagara Health Quality Coalition, and the Rochester
Health Commission want lawmakers to restore funding for the Health Information
and Quality Improvement grant program and the Quality Measurement grant
program, said Elliott Shaw, director of government affairs for The Council
and its health-care specialist
Assembly includes key business tax cuts, with partial repeal of GRT
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver unveiled a proposal March 14 for some $750 million in tax cuts targeted to working families and job creation.
Silver said the tax cuts would be part of the Assembly budget resolution to be considered on the floor on March 15
A leading Assembly Democrat is calling for repeal the state's gross receipts tax (GRT) on energy.
Robin Schimminger (D-Erie County), chairman of the Assembly Committee on Economic
Development, Job Creation, Commerce and Industry, today announced a bill that would phase
out the tax over two years
The Senate Majority has released the report of its task force on privacy, including more than 50
different policy recommendations.
At a news conference Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said the task force had
investigated a range of privacy issues to understand how personal information is collected and
distributed and "how to balance the need for putting protections in place with the legitimate
needs of businesses to have certain information, and the ability of government to function
The Assembly has unanimously voted to continue the state's Power for Jobs program for three
more years by providing an additional three-year term for each of 330 contracts made in the first
year of the program. These contracts, representing 267 megawatts of power, will begin to expire
next March
A member of The Council's Workers' Compensation Committee will represent The
Council on a state commission studying special funds in New York's workers' comp
system.
Patrick McLaughlin, training manager for United Parcel Service for upstate New York, was named to the commission by the Governor, who created the commission last March with strong Council support