Buffalo Business First published a number of statements from those outraged by the budget.
Kenneth Adams, president and CEO, The Business Council of New York State Inc. said, “The governor and legislature have decided to throw fiscal responsibility out the window. This reckless budget ignores economic common sense, crushes New Yorkers with $7 billion in new taxes and slams the brakes on our hopes for recovery. Just when we need private sector job growth to get New Yorkers back to work and lift us out of this recession, Albany leaders are telling [New York] employers to take a hike. It is impossible to view this budget as a path to economic recovery. Businesses and jobs will hasten their departure from the state, and how can you blame them? Albany treats them with disdain.”

The posting stated -”Gov. David Paterson and legislative leaders that finalized a balanced state budget Sunday night got some feedback Monday from interested parties.

The proposed $131.8 billion budget that lawmakers will vote on increases spending by 9 percent and includes roughly $7 billion in higher taxes.”

To read other statement in the story click here.

In today’s Buffalo News Kenneth Adams, president of the Business Council of New York State said, “This budget is a road to fiscal ruin,” The story goes on to say -”Gov. David A. Paterson emerged from behind closed doors Monday to defend the state’s newly proposed $131.8 billion budget, but business groups railed against its massive tax hike package as education and health care special interests complained it does not spend enough.

Critics of the 2009 budget rushed to the Capitol and flooded lawmakers’ telephones to try to unravel support, especially those from upstate.

But Paterson, who in a session with reporters appeared to undermine some elements of the plan he had just negotiated, said there were few options for a government that saw its projected deficit leap by billions in just a couple weeks, to $17.7 billion.

“None of this makes sense,” he said of a plan that imposes record tax increases and cuts many popular programs. But he said the choices were difficult and a “shared sacrifice” by all New Yorkers. “This is in response to a crisis,” he said.”

To read the rest of the story click here.

Kenneth Adams expresses concern over the largest tax hike in state history

The Business Council of New York State, NFIB, Unshackle Upstate, the Empire Center for New York State Policy, IIPNY, and others participated in a joint news conference this afternoon to to explain the economic impact of the budget on the businesses of New York. Lead by Kennth Adams, president and CEO of the Business Council of New York State they warned that the more than $7 billion in new taxes and fees and $9 billion additional spending will only place a larger burden on businesses and lead to more people loosing their jobs and leaving the state.

The Rochester Democrat and Cronicle reports - ““I’ve never been angrier,” Rochester Business Alliance CEO Sandy Parker said today.
“I don’t see anything in (the proposed budget) that’s good,” Parker said, adding that the $132 billion package includes a number of new taxes and fees that likely will push some small businesses to move out of state.
The proposed budget was worked out over the weekend by Gov. David Paterson and the legislative leaders of the Senate and Assembly.
Unshackle Upstate, which was co-created by the Rochester Business Alliance, has begun a campaign asking businesses and business organizations to lobby the five senators, who are the only Democratic senators in upstate New York. The five are Darrel. J. Aubertine, Neil D. Breslin, William T. Stachowski, Antoine M. Thompson and David J. Valesky. None of the five represents a part of the Rochester region.
In the Senate, Democrats have a two-seat majority,
A variety of business organizations and other groups held news conferences in Albany and Rochester to outline what they say will be “devastating” impacts of the budget agreement.
Business Council of New York State CEO Kenneth Adams said the $5.3 billion in new taxes and fees “slams the brakes on our hopes for recovery.”
“Just when we need private sector job growth to get New Yorkers back to work and lift us out of this recession, Albany leaders are telling state employers to take a hike — the largest tax hike in New York State history,” Adams said.”

To read more on this topic from the Democrat and Cronicle click here.

The Ithaca Journal posted on thier website -”Want to buy a bottle of wine? It will cost you another 2 cents, up 27 percent. A 12-pack of beer? Also another two cents, up 59 percent.

Renting a car? Sales taxes will rise from 5 percent to 6 percent. How about monthly utility bills? That will go up another 2 percent a month — as high as $100 a year for some customers.

Does your store sell cigarettes? Expect to pay $1,000 to $5,000 a year in new taxes.

And so the list goes, dozens and dozens of new taxes and fees on New Yorkers as part of a $131.8 billion state budget that lawmakers are expected to pass this week. Paterson said the new taxes and fees total $5.3 billion, but some groups and lawmakers put it closer to $8 billion.

Gov. David Paterson and lawmakers say the revenue raisers are needed to close a $17.7 billion budget gap in the 2009-10 fiscal year, which starts Wednesday.

Business groups warn that the taxes and fees will only lead more people to leave the state and further burden New Yorkers. It comes as the state faces unemployment rates not seen in decades.

“Just when we need private sector job growth to get New Yorkers back to work and lift us out of this recession, Albany leaders are telling NYS employers to take a hike — the largest tax hike in New York State history,” said Kenneth Adams, president of state Business Council . “It is outrageous.”

The biggest new taxes is $4 billion that is expected to be raised through raising income taxes on those whose salaries are as low as $200,000 for individuals and $300,000 for households”

To read the rest of the story click here.

Kenneth Adams, president and CEO of the Business Council of New York State told the Daily News about the increased spending in the budget, “What it does contain, though, is $170million in pork-barrel spending for lawmakers to spread around their districts. “This reckless budget ignores economic common sense, crushes New Yorkers with $7 billion in new taxes and slams the brakes on our hopes for recovery.”

The Daily News went on to say -”Gov. Paterson and legislative leaders unveiled a record $131.8 billion tax-and-spend budget deal Sunday night.

Despite Paterson’s repeated warnings about the state’s fiscal crisis, total spending actually increases by $10.5 billion, or 8.7%, according to state leaders. The bulk of that, they say, is $7.2 billion in federal stimulus money that is required to be spent in the coming fiscal year.

The remainder includes $2 billion in spending cuts rejected by lawmakers as well as $1.3 billion in capital and debt service spending. Even without factoring in the stimulus money, state taxpayer-supported funding should grow by at least $800 million, Paterson’s office said.

“These numbers are absolutely staggering, and the height of irresponsibility on the part of the Democrat leadership in this state,” said Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos (R-L.I.). “The public should be outraged.”

The new package, which lawmakers will begin voting on Tuesday, is said to contain $5.2 billion in new taxes and fees, though critics say it’s likely closer to $7 billion or $8 billion. The biggest increase is a three-year hike in the personal income tax on families making at least $300,000 that is expected to raise $4 billion.”

To read the rest of the story click here.

The Buffalo News reports today-”Taxes and fees could rise more than $7 billion in the upcoming state budget, making it the biggest increase in New York’s history, the state’s chief business lobbyist warned Friday.

“How could the governor and Legislature impose the largest tax increase in New York State history in the middle of this deep recession, and how could they expect economic recovery?” said Kenneth Adams, president of the Business Council of New York.

He predicted such a large tax increase would hamper the state’s ability to recover from the current economic slide.

The increased tax levy includes: hiking income taxes on wealthier residents, boosting various business taxes, and hitting consumers on several fronts — from taxes on health insurance premiums to energy bills.

Those fees and taxes, if they occur, as negotiators at the Capitol are considering, are likely to boost state revenues by $7 billion, the business group estimates.”

To read the rest of the story click here.

James T. Madore of Newsday writes -”A deal has been reached on the 2009-10 budget that maintains school aid at this year’s level, eliminates the popular STAR property-tax rebate checks and temporarily raises income taxes on households earning more than $300,000.

Gov. David A. Paterson and leaders of the legislative majorities are rushing to meet Wednesday’s start of the fiscal year. Nine budget bills now must pass the State Senate and Assembly, with voting to start tomorrow.

The spending plan totals a record $131.8 billion, up 8.7 percent from this year. The increase, far above the inflation rate, is mainly driven by federal stimulus money that must be spent immediately.

Because details remained murky, it could not be determined last night whether the 2009-10 budget reduces spending to a sustainable level once the stimulus cash is gone in two years and with diminished revenue from Wall Street. In December, Paterson warned that school aid and the Medicaid program, which account for more than half of state expenditures, must be pared back. Yet, many of his proposed cuts aren’t in the new budget.”
To read the rest of the story click here.

Kenneth Adams, president and CEO of the Business Council speaking about the budget told Madore, “The budget’s increased taxes and spending would “guarantee that this state is the last to recover from the recession. … They have defied economic common sense.”

The New York Times reports -”Concluding the most secretive budget negotiations in recent memory, Gov. David A. Paterson and leaders of the Legislature outlined a $131.8 billion agreement on Sunday that would close the state’s gaping deficit with billions of dollars in new taxes, financing from the federal stimulus and a substantial slowdown in the growth of health care spending.

The final days of negotiations between Mr. Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith have been conducted under a veil of secrecy so profound that even well-seasoned Albany cynics were taken aback.

And despite the enormous fiscal pressure the state faces, the budget contains $170 million in financing for pet projects — an amount unchanged from last year — suggesting that Albany’s appetite for with what critics call pork-barrel spending appeared to be undiminished. Listed in the budget were grants to gun clubs, an upstate museum dedicated to bricks and brick-making, the Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta and an organization known as the Urban Yoga Foundation.

With the stimulus money and other federal grants, total spending would rise over the next year by $10.5 billion, or 8.7 percent, a major expansion, though the state’s direct spending, which excludes federal funds, would rise by about $3.3 billion, higher than the rate of inflation. Over all, New York received $7.2 billion in federal stimulus money for the next fiscal year, some of it directly allocated to programs like unemployment insurance and food stamps.

Factoring in the elimination of $1.5 billion in property tax rebates, New Yorkers will pay around $7 billion in new or increased taxes and fees next year — the price, officials said, of closing a budget gap of more than $16 billion.”

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Kenneth Adams, president and CEO of the Business Council told the Times,”It is impossible to view this budget as a path to economic recovery. Businesses and jobs will hasten their departure from the state, and how can you blame them? Albany treats them with disdain.”

The Gannett News Service reports today - “Gov. David Paterson and state lawmakers were moving toward an agreement Friday to raise income taxes on the wealthy, while agreeing to reject a proposal to sell wine in grocery stores and to find a remedy to avoid massive fare hikes on mass transit in New York City.

Paterson on Friday talked more favorably about raising income taxes on the wealthy in the face of a growing state deficit, after warning for months that a tax hike would be bad for the state’s economy. On Tuesday, he announced the deficit grew by $2.2 billion to a record $16.2 billion…

tentative agreements: freezing education aid at current levels, limiting tax increases on health insurers, restoring some cuts made to tuition-assistance programs for college students and reforming the state’s Empire Zone economic development program.

Legislative leaders also vowed to find a solution to help the Metropolitan Transportation Authority avoid massive fare increases and service cuts, which the authority board voted to do Wednesday.

The MTA is “not a part of the budget, but we will do it,” said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan.

Opponents appeared to beat back a Paterson proposal to allow grocery stores to sell wine, which the state estimated would bring in $105 million in new revenue.

“There’s a couple of drips left in the bottle,” said Kenneth Adams, president of the Business Council, which has been lobbying for the measure. “It’s still in play but barely.”

To read the rest of the story click here.