ALBANY—Without a new approach to worker training, New York risks
losing the full benefits of its recent efforts to improve its business
climate, Ed Reinfurt, vice president of The Business Council, testified
at an Assembly hearing today.
(Click here to view
the testimony)
"In the last five years, New York has taken important steps to put its economy on the
right track," Reinfurt told the Legislative Commission on Skills Development and Career
Education
Bulletin #7: May 24, 1999
To stimulate Upstate, cut taxes. To do that, cut spending.
Upstate's economy was devastated by high taxes in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as shown by an authoritative new report from Governor Pataki's Chief Economist, Dr. Stephen Kagann. Thanks to major tax cuts enacted over the past five years, things are improving
Governor Pataki has proposed two workers' compensation reforms that
are long-time Business Council
priorities: a cap on permanent partial disability payments and use
of objective medical guidelines to determine the degree of impairment
in such cases.
The Governor estimated that the reforms would reduce rates paid by employers
an average 24
The Council's Spending Watch campaign,
urging spending restraint in the new state budget, has begun advertising
on the World Wide Web.
The Council has entered into an agreement with Chichester's Empire Page,
widely read by the political community in Albany and statewide, to include
a link to the Spending Watch section of The Business Council's
own website, www
Bulletin #6: May 17, 1999
Back to the future? Not
This seems familiar--haven't we been here before? Sure enough. Only 11 years ago, New York lawmakers were debating what to do with a sizeable surplus. Predictably, pro-spending advocates swarmed in Albany, eventually persuading legislators to enact huge increases in spending
Leaders of business and government from across New York attended The
Council's Annual Dinner and The Public Policy Institute's Issues Forum at the Empire State Plaza in Albany.
The Issues Forum focused on tort reform and featured keynote addresses
by state Senator Dale Volker and Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, sponsors
of the Volker-Morelle Civil Justice Act
Governor Pataki has nominated Arthur J. Roth as Commissioner of the
Department of Taxation and Finance. The nomination is subject to Senate
confirmation. He would succeed Michael Urbach.
Roth has served as deputy commissioner for operations since March 1996.
He was founder and managing director of Roth Nobis & Company, P
Releases of toxic chemicals to New York State's environment fell five
percent in 1997, according to the annual Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)
Report released May 5 by the state Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC).
The DEC report found that manufacturing plants in New York State released
29
ALBANY—The Coalition for Mandate Reform has concluded its information-gathering
on the state's most onerous mandates on local governments and school
districts and is preparing a report on the mandate problem in New York
State.
"We're learning a great deal about state mandates on local governments
and school districts and how they waste taxpayer dollars," said Denise
Murphy McGraw, director of regional affairs for The Business Council
and coordinator of The Council's participation in the coalition
Albany, New York
May 11, 1999
Testimony of:
Daniel B. Walsh, President
The Business Council of New York State, Inc.
Assemblyman Morelle, Assemblyman Schimminger, and honorable members of the committees:
Thank you for the opportunity to testify on the upstate economy. The Business Council is the largest broad-based association representing business in New York State