Jim Tankersley of the Los Angeles Times reports - “The federal government has “significant gaps” in its strategy to cope with the increasing effects of climate change on the country, according to a White House report scheduled to be released Tuesday.

The report will call for better risk assessments, more thorough scientific research and improved coordination of federal and local governments in order to handle the effects of warming temperatures, according to a draft of the report.”

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Fortuna/Talisman announced that it is moving 15 jobs from its Big Flats office in the Southern Tier to the company’s new headquarters in Warrendale, PA. The move is a business decision in response to the current moratorium on drilling in New York State. Mark Scheuerman of Fortuna says that the jobs will likely return to New York once permitting and drilling begin in the state.

In our current economic climate New York cannot afford to be sending jobs out of state. New York State needs to approve the final drilling regulations that will provide for safe, clean development of the Marcellus Shale and create thousands of good skilled jobs.

To read more click here.

Judy L. Randall writes on SILive.com - “The proposed state tax on soda is nothing but a sweet cheat, a member of Staten Island’s Albany delegation railed yesterday.

“It’s up to parents to determine what their kids put in their mouths,” said state Sen. Diane Savino (D-North Shore/Brooklyn), contending the penny-per-ounce levy would hurt working families.
She also said there was no guarantee the revenue would be dedicated to efforts to curb childhood obesity.

“What are they calling it today?” Ms. Savino asked, rallying with more than 100 Teamsters at the Coca-Cola sales and distribution facility in Mariners Harbor. “A syrup tax? A soda tax? A sugar tax?

“What it is, is a bad tax that disproportionately impacts working families.”
A 12-ounce can of Coke, for example, would cost an additional 12 cents if the state Legislature enacts the tax being pushed by the administration of embattled Gov. David Paterson, which needs to plug a $9 billion deficit.

Tax proponents, including the city and state health commissioners, maintain that reducing consumption of sugary drinks like soda would reduce childhood obesity and diabetes. They also note Staten Island has the second-highest obesity rate in the state, with 65 percent of Islanders overweight.”

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In an op-ed in the Wall St. Journal, E.J. McMahon takes a closer look at the Lt. Gov’s proposal to borrow $6 billion over the next three years and a possible three-month extension of the fiscal year that ends March 31 and sees little help in it for New York.

Like a drunk tempted to go on one more binge at a stressful moment, New York state may soon reach for the debt bottle in the face of mounting deficits. If it does, taxpayers will feel the hangover for a generation.

The stress is real. State officials need to close a looming deficit of $9 billion for the current fiscal year, which begins on April 1. That budget gap is more than $1.6 billion higher than the estimate Gov. David Paterson presented in his original fiscal year 2010-2011 budget proposal, in January. Projected deficits over the next five years now add up to $43 billion.

While the crisis mounted, however, inaction has been the rule in Albany. Like their counterparts in Sacramento, Calif., or Trenton, N.J., New York lawmakers have been paralyzed, feeling themselves beholden to various spending constituencies, especially labor unions. More lately the political class has been transfixed by the travails of Mr. Paterson.

The governor recently abandoned his election campaign and is now barely hanging onto office. He faces allegations that he improperly interfered in a domestic violence case involving a top aide, and that he lied under oath when asked how he landed $6,000 worth of complimentary World Series tickets. No matter how long Mr. Paterson survives in office, his political credibility is irretrievably damaged.

Enter Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch, the 76-year-old New York City developer, financier, labor negotiator and onetime transit czar whose appointment by Mr. Paterson last year to the No. 2 slot added gravitas to an administration sorely in need of it. The governor assigned Mr. Ravitch to study potential long-term solutions to the fiscal crisis.

On Wednesday Mr. Ravitch proposed a five-year plan for restoring “structural balance” to the state budget. The proposal includes borrowing $6 billion over the next three years and a possible three-month extension of the fiscal year that ends March 31. In return, Mr. Ravitch wants the Legislature to shift the fiscal year start from April 1 to July 1, matching the norm in other states, and to transform the annual cash-basis budget to an accrual-based, long-term financial plan. He also wants the governor to have the power to impound spending if, in any given quarter, the plan is found to be out of balance by an “independent” Financial Review Board. Most of these reforms mimic the fiscal rules that now apply to New York City.

Mr. Ravitch’s reputation was built on the supporting role he played in engineering New York City’s recovery from its fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s. However, his attempt to apply the 1970s template to the 21st century state crisis, while clearly well-intentioned, is off the mark. For example, Mr. Ravitch’s desire to superimpose a Financial Review Board on the existing budget process—as opposed to an outright grant of impoundment power to the governor—hearkens back to the Financial Control Board created to oversee the earlier state bailout of New York City.”

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Robert J. Samuelson of the Washington Post writes in his column - “What we need from the next president is somebody who will not just tell you what they think you want to hear but will tell you what you need to hear.” — Barack Obama, Feb. 27, 2008

One job of presidents is to educate Americans about crucial national problems. On health care, Barack Obama has failed. Almost everything you think you know about health care is probably wrong or, at least, half wrong. Great simplicities and distortions have been peddled in the name of achieving “universal health coverage.” The miseducation has worsened as the debate approaches its climax.

There’s a parallel here: housing. Most Americans favor homeownership, but uncritical pro-homeownership policies (lax lending standards, puny down payments, hefty housing subsidies) helped cause the financial crisis. The same thing is happening with health care. The appeal of universal insurance — who, by the way, wants to be uninsured? — justifies half-truths and dubious policies. That the process is repeating itself suggests that our political leaders don’t learn even from proximate calamities.”

To read the rest of the column click here.

Carl Campanile of the New York Post writes - “As the health-care debate comes to a head in Washington, a new political war over medical coverage is about to erupt in Albany, where Gov. Paterson is seeking authority to curb “excessive” rate hikes imposed by insurers.

Tucked in Paterson’s budget plan is a proposal to give the state’s superintendent of insurance “prior approval” over rate hikes in medical premiums, which would end a 10-year experiment with deregulation. President Obama has recommended something similar on the national level…

Paterson estimates the state will save $70 million in the upcoming fiscal year and $150 million by 2012 by restoring state authority over rate hikes. Fewer residents would be forced to go on the public dole by keeping rates lower in the private insurance market, officials said.

He also wants to limit insurer profits by requiring that 85 percent of their revenues go toward customer service.
But insurance companies said giving the state control over insurance premiums would backfire.
“It’s tantamount to price fixing. It will create havoc in the marketplace,” said Leslie Moran, spokeswoman for the NY Health Plan Association.

“There will be political pressure for the executive and the Legislature to keep rates artificially low. You’re not doing anything to control medical costs. You will have plans leave the state and go out of business.”

To read the entire story click here.

David Copley a petroleum geologist provides the following op-ed in in the Buffalo News.

“It’s impossible to overestimate the importance of natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale that underlies large parts of New York State and Pennsylvania.

Notwithstanding exaggerated fears of damage to ground water systems, the ramp-up in shale-gas production has been the best economic and environmental news in years. Thanks to the use of new drilling techniques combined with a decades-old process known as hydraulic fracturing, energy companies are now able to access deposits of shale gas that were considered out of reach a few years ago.

Until 2007, the story of natural gas production in the United States was one of decline. With gas supplies tight as a drum and domestic production unable to meet growing demand for the clean-burning fuel, plans were under way for dozens of liquefied natural gas terminals to handle imports from overseas.

Today domestic gas production is increasing, and shale gas accounts for 40 percent of the supply. Shale gas provides a significant boost for the economy, with thousands of new jobs, tax revenue for state and local governments, and income for property owners.”

To read the rest of the story click here.

Todd Tranum, President/CEO, Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce provides the following op-ed to the observertoday.com.

“As Americans we pride ourselves on our ability to rise to the occasion when things get tough. Well things could not be much tougher in Albany right now. The bottom has fallen out of New York State Government and it is going to impact the lives of each and every one of us across the State. It is not just the financial crisis, it is the general level of dysfunction in New York State politics that is creating a perfect storm. Yet, it is a classic moment to rise to the occasion; it is a window of opportunity to implement reform. There will be no stimulus this year to buy us more time. Significant tax revenues to State coffers from Wall Street are not on the near horizon. As citizens of New York State we have been taxed and hit with fees to the max. Therefore going again to an already overtaxed citizenry should not even be considered an option. So, where is the opportunity? The answer is reform. The opportunity is in the “right now.” Our elected officials must seize the moment.

Studies and recommendations have been made. Now is the time to take action. The Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness, also known as the Lundine Commission, outlined several specific reforms that could improve New York State. In summary the Lundine Commission recommendations create a path for more efficient and effective local government systems. State action is necessary to further empower our local communities to enact the recommendations of the Lundine Commission.

Your Chamber of Commerce has been pushing reform and protecting our members from law changes, fees and taxes that hurt New York businesses. Working with several business associations including the Business Council of New York State, Unshackle Upstate, the Chamber Alliance of New York State and the Manufacturing Alliance, we are advocating for reform. Clearly this is a process that is slow with outcomes that are very hard to measure. Some may ask “why bother?” The answer is simple. To preserve the true engine of growth which is private sector businesses, we must continue the fight. Just because change is slow and victories seem few and far between, we cannot leave the battle field or surrender.

This is where the Chamber stands on a few of the issues being discussed in Albany:

Budget Crisis: We need Albany to reduce spending, reduce taxes and eliminate (prevent new) anti-business regulation. State Government must demonstrate spending constraint. In the year 2000 the state budget was at $75 billion and in 2009 it was at $131 billion. Spending has been out of control. Controlling spending must be a priority.

Farmworkers Bill of Rights: The Chamber of Commerce is opposed to the Farmworkers Bill of Rights. This legislation would devastate Chautauqua County’s farmers. The proposed collective bargaining rights in this bill do not include any protections against a strike in the middle of harvest, nor are they appropriate for farm workers charged with the daily care of animals. The overtime pay provision of the bill is also irreconcilable with the seasonality of agribusiness. The bill requires farm owners to guarantee a forty-hour work week. The reality is that the pressure to harvest an entire year’s work in a short amount of time, factoring weather conditions, does not afford farmers the ability to guarantee a forty-hour work week. The bill also sets new unemployment and disability insurance thresholds on farmers.

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Tom Rivers of the DailyNewsonline.com writes - “Gov. David Paterson and the majority of the state Legislature wants to scrap the Empire Zone program and come up with something new, a program that isn’t so generous to businesses.

The Empire Zone rewards companies that create jobs and make capital improvements. Local economic development agencies and state-wide business groups have praised the program for fueling business expansions in the state, including rural communities such as Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties.

Paterson’s budget proposal would retroactively apply new criteria for qualification to existing Empire Zone participants. A substantial number of the 9,800 businesses getting Empire Zone benefits could be removed from the program, including companies that have made major capital investments in New York, according to the Business Council of New York. The zone-certified companies employ approximately 380,000 people…

The Business Council of New York State, The New York State Economic Development Council and The Independent Power Producers of New York all oppose Paterson’s changes. The groups last week issued a joint statement, asking for the governor and Legislature to continue the program without drastically reducing the benefits.

The tax credits needed “to offset uncompetitive high costs, particularly property tax costs in New York,” the groups said in a news release.”

To read the rest of the story click here.

Don Cazentre of the Syracuse Post-Standard writes - “Selling wine in New York’s grocery stores is expected to increase consumer demand, benefit the state’s wine industry and boost the state’s revenues in a time of financial crisis.
It’s also likely to cut wine sales at the state’s liquor stores, most of them small and family-owned, possibly enough to knock many out of business. So says a report written last year by a Cornell University economics professor.

In the often-passionate debate that has accompanied the wine-in-grocery-stores proposal, both sides have cited economist Brad Rickard’s research as evidence that their position is right. The debate is heating up this month, as the idea is a key piece of Gov. David Paterson’s proposed 2010-2011 budget; the new budget year begins April 1…

Advocates for the latest version of the wine-in-grocery proposal say the new provisions are enough to compensate the liquor stores. “The liquor store industry is declining as it stands now,” said Heather Briccetti, vice president for government relations for The Business Council of New York State, one of the members of the coalition supporting the change. “We have fewer than 3,000 (liquor) outlets in the state, one of the lowest totals in the country.”

Moreover, she said, the benefits to other business in the state are overwhelming. “It promotes consumer choice,” she said. “It increases wine sales, so it’s good for the wine industry, the grape growers and related industries.”

She said the liquor stores will benefit from several provisions in the bill, such as one that allows them to cooperate in purchasing, to reduce costs. Another provision limits the number of licensed liquor stores, thereby increasing their value, and allowing licensees to sell them without relicensing requirements.”

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