Congressman Scott Murphy has joined fellow members of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition in releasing a comprehensive plan aimed at cutting spending and balancing the budget. The “Blue Dog Blueprint for Fiscal Reform” provides a concrete pathway to reduced deficits and includes a number of proposals that historically have earned bipartisan support.

The Blue Dog’s plan to balance the budget, cut spending and secure America’s future

The Blue Dogs have a proven track record of offering bipartisan, commonsense solutions to some of the country’s most pressing fiscal issues. It is time to roll up our sleeves and make the tough decisions necessary to once again put the country on secure economic footing.

Our underlying structural deficits are the biggest threat to our economic security today. With this proposal, the Blue Dogs are putting forth concrete steps that can be taken to put the country back on a path to balanced budgets and long term fiscal sustainability.

As independent voices for fiscal responsibility and accountability, the Blue Dogs recognize that the system is broken regardless of which party is in charge. It is time to change the way Washington operates, and begin working together in earnest to develop solutions to these systemic problems.

To read more abut the Blue Dog plan and Murphy’s comments click here.

The Daily News reports - “Former President Bill Clinton endorsed Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Thursday - a possible indication that the seat’s former occupant, Hillary Clinton, approves too.

“President Clinton thinks she’s doing a good job and he supports her,” aide Matt McKenna said.

To Read more click here.

Ford, in Westchester, calls for tax cuts

While Gillibrand was picking up an endorsement LoHud.com reports that Ford was in Westchester talking about tax cuts.
“Harold Ford Jr., who is considering a run against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, continued his listening tour with a stop in Westchester on Thursday — and continued the back-and-forth barbs with his potential opponent.

Ford, a former Tennessee congressman-turned-Wall Street executive, stopped at Westchester Medical Center to learn more about issues facing hospitals and called on President Barack Obama and congressional leaders to cut taxes, particularly on company payrolls.”

To read more click here.

The Buffalo News is reporting - “The base of One HSBC Center played a makeshift Valley Forge late Thursday afternoon for a dozen and a half local tea party activists who descended on downtown Buffalo to continue efforts they are billing as the “Second American Revolution.”

The target: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

Silver, D-Manhattan, was in Buffalo as the headliner for a $2,000-per-head fundraiser on the 31st floor of the city’s tallest building to benefit the Erie County Democratic Party.”

Read the rest of the story click here.

Comptroller Revokes DOT Contracting Privileges

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today rejected a $27 million federal stimulus contract between the state Department of Transportation (DOT) and Hicksville-based L&L Painting Co. Inc. because of unanswered questions related to the company’s role in a federal investigation and other problems. The contract was for painting the Bruckner Expressway Viaduct and ramps on I-278.

In a letter to DOT today, DiNapoli also revoked some of DOT’s contracting privileges and imposed more stringent contracting requirements on DOT. DiNapoli said the changes were implemented because questions have arisen in recent months about whether DOT has been thoroughly investigating issues related to vendors.

“DOT is putting federal stimulus money at risk,” DiNapoli said. “There’s pressure to spend stimulus money quickly, but quickly doesn’t mean state agencies should be cutting corners. DOT has a responsibility to thoroughly investigate businesses with problems in their past. Every stimulus dime counts, and DOT has to do a better job of safeguarding stimulus funds.

To read more click here.

The following is part of an op-ed in today’s New York Times by Charles E. Schumer, a Democratic senator from New York and Orrin G. Hatch, a Republican senator from Utah.

“With the national unemployment rate at 10 percent, and more than 15 million Americans looking for work, ideas to spur job creation are at the forefront of everyone’s minds. While we may represent different political philosophies, we recognize that high unemployment — particularly long-term unemployment — is not a liberal problem or a conservative problem; it’s a national problem that takes a huge toll on families.

The idea for some sort of jobs tax credit is percolating again, but the jobs credit that existed in the late 1970s was of limited success, and it was excruciatingly complicated. Recalling this experience, members of Congress from both parties have been lukewarm to such a credit, and the idea was dropped from the stimulus package last year.

We have an idea that is simple, straightforward and easy to explain and administer. In fact, it is so simple that the legislative text of the proposal is only a few pages long — a rarity when it comes to tax policy.

Here’s the idea: Starting immediately after enactment, any private-sector employer that hires a worker who had been unemployed for at least 60 days will not have to pay its 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax on that employee for the duration of 2010. The Social Security trust fund will then be made whole with spending cuts elsewhere in the budget between now and 2015. That’s it. Simple to understand, and easy to explain.”

To read the rest of the op-ed click here.

Glenda Gephart of the Star Gazette writes - “Simply requiring a permit before a driveway is built onto a public road is one of many recommended actions Schuyler County municipalities could take to lessen the impact of natural gas drilling.

“The permit could be the trigger to tell us about a planned well,” said Jerry Verrigni, district manager for the Schuyler County Soil and Water Conservation District, at a meeting of the county’s Council of Governments on Wednesday night.

Verrigni was one of the speakers reporting on the work of four subcommittees of the county’s Ad-Hoc Energy Task Force, which was organized in October by the Council of Governments.”

To read the rest of the story click here.

Alyssa Sunkin of the Times Herald-Record writes today - “”Help is on the way.” That’s what small-business owner George Laurence had hoped to take away from President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union address Wednesday night.

“There are so many things we can put people to work for that would directly stimulate the economy and boost people’s mindset,” said Laurence, the owner of The Eclectic Eye antique shop in the Village of Warwick. “People are depressed.”

Speaking before Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress, Laurence and his counterparts in the small-business community said they hoped the president would address issues including job creation, economic stimulation, health care and credit.

Laurence would like to see a widespread public-works project to improve the country’s transportation infrastructure and put people back to work so they can at least pay for the basics in life: food, clothing and shelter.”

TO read the rest of the story click here.

Syracuse.com reports today - “A federal proposal threatens the exporting of wine from states including New York, while separate talks could greatly boost sales to Canada, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Wednesday. Each separate but related issue could affect wine exports from New York, California, Washington, Oregon, Michigan and other wine-producing states.

The New York Democrat is seeking to block the proposed repeal of a measure that allowed American wineries to be compensated for other countries’ tariffs. He also said there may soon be progress in getting Canada to lift its high tariff of as much as 100 percent on American wines bought over the border.

He said wine sellers in border states call it the Ontario license plate syndrome. That’s when Canadians visit and taste wine but can’t afford a $20 bottle of wine because it would cost twice that much by the time they pay their tariff to get it back home. “I’m optimistic we can get them to stop this,” Schumer said. He said New York is part of a coalition with wine sellers in California, Oregon, Washington, and Michigan to seek the relief from Canada.”

To read the rest of the story click here.

To read the release from the Senator click here.

In mid-December, the U.S. Senate and House passed and the President signed the Fiscal Year 2010 Department of Defense Appropriations Act. The provisions included an expansion and extension of the COBRA subsidy program that was enacted under the president’s original stimulus program, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

You’ll recall that these obligations in early 2009 required employers or others who administer insurance plans to temporarily subsidize 65 percent of the COBRA insurance premiums for any employee and qualified family members continuing their coverage through the federal COBRA or NYS continuation programs (mini-COBRA). It applied to employees who involuntarily lost their jobs from September 1, 2008 to December 31, 2009. The subsidy arrangement began on March 1, 2009 and lasted a maximum of nine months. Employers or others administering the COBRA or continuation plan were then able to recover the premium subsidy paid by claiming a credit on the future payroll taxes paid through submission of the IRS Form 941 which had been modified by the IRS for this purpose.

The program has now been expanded from the original nine (9) months to fifteen (15) months. So, if you have anyone who completed their 9 months of subsidy, make arrangements to offer it for an additional 6 months. Since the program began March 1, 2009, the original 9 months expired on November 30, 2009. With the expansion, those folks whose subsidy ended in November or later have an opportunity to continue for another 6 months.

Eligibility for the subsidy has also been extended from the original expiration date of December 31, 2009 to February 28, 2010. So, any employees who involuntarily lost their jobs in January or February 2010 will have an opportunity to receive the subsidy and for an expanded time period of 15 months as described above.

Check you records, change your notices, communicate with your employees and call me on The Business Council’s HR Line at 800-332-2117 if I can be of assistance.

Senate Republicans say “Statewide unemployment continues to rise amid Democrat paralysis on jobs front; Despite federal stimulus, New York lost 270,000 private sector jobs last year”

New York State Senate Republican Leader Dean G. Skelos and members of the Senate Republican Conference today announced a major new jobs initiative designed to improve New York’s business climate, reduce taxes, and create thousands of new jobs for workers across the State.

The plan’s centerpiece would reward businesses with a three-year tax credit, averaging between $2,500 and $5,000 for every new job created. It would also eliminate taxes for small businesses and manufacturers that pay the state’s corporate franchise tax and roll back the income tax surcharge placed on them last year by Democrats in the budget. It also places a moratorium on new taxes, fees and regulations that are killing private sector job-creation efforts in the state.

Business groups were quick to weigh in with praise for the Senate Republican plane.

“Private sector job creation needs to be New York’s highest priority. This plan addresses this vital need by removing barriers to job growth and giving our citizens hope and opportunity. The tax credit for job creation and the moratorium on new regulations and taxes on small business are effective tools to create jobs. New York has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs because the state spends too much and taxes too much. The spending cap in this plan is an important fiscal reform that must be enacted,” said Kenneth Adams, president and CEO of The Business Council of New York State, Inc.