The Business Council of New York State, Inc. contends that its 2016 legislative agenda focuses on the core improvements needed to improve the business climate throughout the state. “Gov. Cuomo and the state Legislature have made tremendous strides in recent years in improving our state’s business climate and the perception that New York is not […]
The Business Council of New York State, Inc. contends that its 2016 legislative agenda focuses on the core improvements needed to improve the business climate throughout the state.
“Gov. Cuomo and the state Legislature have made tremendous strides in recent years in improving our state’s business climate and the perception that New York is not business-friendly,” Heather C. Briccetti, president and CEO of the Business Council, said in a news release.
“Five-consecutive on-time, low-growth budgets have restored fiscal discipline and a general feeling of competency. Despite these successes, considerable work is still needed. Our state’s Tax Foundation ranking remains woefully inadequate and many of our longstanding regulations and taxes make it unnecessarily difficult to keep and create jobs in New York state. We look forward to working with the governor and the legislature throughout this year’s legislative session to enact smart, pro-growth policies that improve the lives of all New Yorkers.”
The Business Council’s legislative agenda includes focusing on the following goals:
Maintain budget discipline — Adopt a sixth-consecutive, on-time state budget that keeps state operating spending growth under 2 percent. “New York’s fiscal discipline has allowed the state to adopt important tax reforms and avoid the significant budget challenges — and pressures for new or increased taxes — faced by a number of other states,” the Business Council says.
Small-business tax reform — Following on state and New York City corporate tax reform adopted in 2014 and 2015, adopt business tax reductions for small businesses organized as pass-through entities, including Sub-S corporations, LLCs, and partnerships, by increasing the business income-tax exemption under the personal income tax and decreasing the corporate franchise tax rate for small businesses.
Workers’-compensation reform — Fully realize the cost savings of duration caps on permanent partial-disability benefits, by generally starting duration caps at two years after an injury. Finalize and implement administrative updates to medical guidelines on scheduled loss-of-use awards, and mandate the use of panel providers for the first 90 days of medical treatment. Reform indexing of maximum benefits to reflect regional average weekly wages.
Infrastructure investments — Dedicate the nearly $2 billion in remaining financial settlement “windfall funds” to infrastructure programs, including roads, bridges, water, and sewer projects. Assure a fully funded road and bridge program in conjunction with adopting a five-year MTA capital plan. Increase funding for the Environmental Protection Fund to support important programs including pollution prevention, agricultural business projects, and green energy.
Energy assessment — Repeal Section 18-a energy gross-receipts assessment, effective Jan. 1, 2016, avoiding the collection of an additional $200 million from business and residential ratepayers. Adopt measures to provide price protection to large energy consumers from energy assessments. Adopt a self-directed energy program with a cap on percentage energy assessments as a percentage of energy assessments.
Education and workforce development — Maintain the state’s commitment to enhanced education standards, continue to expand the New York State P-TECH program, provide funding for current employment training, and continue to develop CTE (career technical education) and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education initiatives.
Scaffold law reform — Reform the “antiquated” Scaffold Law by adopting a standard that assigns comparative negligence similar to that in place for other forms of liability.
Reject wage/benefit mandates — Oppose new pay mandates, including significant additional increases in the minimum wage; authorization for municipal-level minimum wages; extension of public works prevailing wage to private-sector activities; new paid-leave mandates.
The Business Council of New York State says its membership is made up of thousands of businesses, as well as local chambers of commerce and professional and trade associations.