Top legislative leaders and fiscal-policy experts will speak at the annual Issues Conference of The Business Council's Government Affairs Council (GAC). The conference is set for 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 20 at the headquarters of the New York State Nurses' Association in Latham, Albany County.
The agenda for the meeting includes:
- Remarks by state Assemblyman Herman "Denny" Farrell (D-Manhattan), chairman of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee and chairman of the state Democratic Party.
- Remarks by state Senator Kemp Hannon (R-Long Island).
- Remarks by E.J. McMahon Jr., senior fellow in tax and budgetary studies at the Manhattan Institute and an authority on fiscal issues in New York State and New York City. McMahon wrote the Manhattan Institute's recent report, Deja Vu All Over Again: The Right Away to Cure New York's Looming Budget Gap, which argued that New York should cut taxes and restrain state spending to meet the coming fiscal challenge. (For information on that report, see www.bcnys.org/whatsnew/2002/1008ej.htm.)
- A panel discussion on fiscal issues facing New York State. Participants are to be announced.
- Remarks by Mark Cohen of the state Office of Public Security.
- A discussion of the results of the election on Nov. 5.
The conference will focus on The Council's top priorities for 2003, including: health-care cost reductions; efforts to site more electricity-generating plants faster; sustaining the state's commitment to education standards; fiscal restraint in state government; and workers' compensation reform.
The GAC holds this meeting each year so that GAC members and Business Council staff can finalize legislative and policy objectives for the year ahead and discuss the current political environment in Albany.
The Issues Conference is open to all GAC members. Registration and a continental breakfast will be available beginning at 8:15 a.m.