The Business Council of New York State, Inc. joins the New York Technology Council (NYTECH) in supporting a provision in the SFY 2012-13 Executive Budget that would direct the Public Service Commission to refrain from regulating the rates, terms and conditions on services delivered over Internet technologies such as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), which are not currently regulated. Assessment of E-911 fees, telecommunications relay service fees and federal Universal Service Fund fees on VoIP services would not be affected by this legislation.

VoIP is an optional service that customers may elect as an alternative to basic telephone service. It is particularly good for consumers living in rural upstate New York, helping them benefit from voice competition, making broadband more affordable, and allowing rural communities a wide range of access to information and job opportunities. The service is also critical in cutting costs for start-up technology companies and small businesses, which experience reductions in monthly phone bills by utilizing VoIP.

To read The Business Council’s legislative memo click here.

To read NYTECH’s letter in support of the provision click here.

It’s clear that M&T Bank customers are happy with their bank.  M&T is tops when it comes to overall satisfaction, personal banking satisfaction, credit policy terms and willingness to lend, according to a study by an industry research firm.  The Buffalo-based company won the most “Excellence Awards for Small Business Banking” - 12 national and two regional among the 750 U.S. banks included in the 2011 study.

M&T also won five awards in treasury or cash management and for financial stability.  Last year, M&T made more than 7,500 new small-business loans, and it currently has a total of $5 billion in outstanding loans to small business customers.

M&T Bank Corp. has been a Business Council member since 1978.

See the full article from BuffaloNews.com here.

“Small Businesses Getting Help To Increase Exports To China,” USA Today (2/7, Chu) reports, “While more than 99% of US businesses are small or midsize enterprises, they account for a relatively small share of US exports, according to a 2010 report by the US International Trade Commission.” However, the “mindset of many small business owners is starting to change” as e-commerce websites “make it easier than before to get products affordably marketed and distributed to consumers overseas.” The US “government could do even more to help American businesses export, says Frank Vargo, vice president of international economic affairs for the National Association of Manufacturers trade group. Steps that he advocates include raising the lending limit for the Export-Import Bank, the federal export credit agency, along with promoting exports aggressively and signing additional free-trade agreements.”

The IRS is holding a free webinar on employee and independent contractor issues and the Voluntary Classification Settlement Program.

The webinar, scheduled for Feb. 15, 2012, is for tax practioners, small business owners and industry organizations, payroll professionals and tax exempt and government entities.

For more information - including how to register - click here.

Federal Specialty Crop Funds Support Regional Efforts in Promoting “Buy Local”

New York State Agriculture Commissioner Darrel J. Aubertine today announced the availability of $200,000 in funds to support new and existing regional “buy local” food and agricultural campaigns throughout the State. This program is funded by a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant and will be conducted in coordination with the State’s Pride of New York Program.

“There’s no doubt that consumers want to buy locally produced food,” the Commissioner said. “What we have found is that regional “buy local” campaigns further raise the profile of local products in a specific region and they often have the opportunity to provide a range of services and activities that help local producers market their products and assist consumers in identifying local products.”

The goal of the Regional “Buy Local” Campaign Development Program is to increase consumer awareness, increase recognition in the marketplace, and increase sales of locally produced foods and agricultural products in eleven defined agricultural regions.

Eligible proposals must reflect each region’s geography, agricultural production, local cultural identity and other unique attributes or specialties. They must help promote a broad-range of USDA-defined specialty crops, and they must also work synergistically with other regional “buy local” campaigns in the State, as well as the Pride of New York Program.

With $200,000 in federal Specialty Crop Block Grant funds, each region is eligible to receive $18,550, of which $2,800 is allocated to create a regional brand, and up to $2,750 for the development of a marketing/media plan. The remaining $13,000 can be used for implementing the marketing/media plan, which can include advertisements, the creation of promotional materials, website design, public outreach and more. As part of the grant award, the Department will provide professional and creative services for each region to help develop their regional brands, create individual websites and develop a multi-year marketing/media plan.

Government entities, not-for-profits, tourism boards and Industrial Development Authorities are all eligible to apply. Applications are available online at www.agriculture.ny.gov or by calling 518-457-7229. Applications are due into the Department by February 23, 2012.

The New York Times (1/12, B2, Landler, Subscription Publication) reports, “President Obama said on Wednesday that he would propose tax incentives for companies to bring home manufacturing jobs they had moved overseas, and curtail tax breaks for those that keep relocating jobs abroad. Flanked by executives from the aerospace, chemical and furniture industries - all of whom are building or expanding factories in the United States - Mr. Obama declared that the nation was beginning to see the reversal of a long-term trend toward outsourcing.”

The Los Angeles Times (1/12, Puzzanghera) reports, “The White House said in the coming weeks Obama would propose new tax provisions to reward companies that bring back jobs to the US or make new investments here, and would move to eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.”

The AP (1/12, Kuhnhenn, Rugaber) reports, “Obama highlighted big and small firms ranging from Ford to a North Carolina specialty furniture company as examples of enterprises that have invested in the US rather than abroad.”

The Washington Post (1/12, Goldfarb) reports, “Obama did not give any more details about the proposals he will make. But some close to the White House expect him to repackage old ideas, such as making it harder for US companies to postpone paying taxes on foreign profits, along with new ideas. One idea that the administration has explored is a recurring tax credit for profits derived from selling products developed in the United States, but it is unclear whether this will be part of the package the president will announce.”

Developing the natural gas resources in the Marcellus Shale has become an incredibly contentious issue in New York over the past 3 ½ years.  Initially gas companies were caught unaware.  They assumed that development in New York would be embraced as it has been in other parts of the country.  The economic benefits to rural upstate communities would surely make up for the temporary disruption and inconvenience.  Thousands of jobs would be createdand landowners would receive royalties for years to come.   Instead, energy companies have been opposed by a well funded, national opposition determined to stop gas development in New York.  Natural gas companies needed to be out in front of the message years ago but that opportunity has  since passed.  They have made many concessions but it is clear now that the opposition does not want to agree to anything.  Three and a half years of study and delay has yielded a set of regulations that are the strictest in the nation but the opposition is still not satisfied.   It is obvious that their goal is to ban development in the state entirely.

So, who really suffers if development is banned in New York’s Marcellus Shale or the regulations are so cumbersome that they make it economically unfeasible for companies to proceed?  The energy companies will move on to shale plays in other parts of the country and the environmentalists will beat their drum for the next great environmental “threat”.

It is the landowners in Central New York and the Southern Tier who will suffer.  They are the silent majority of hard working citizens desperate for the opportunity to develop their natural resources.  They are the most vulnerable stakeholders in this debate.

Landowners in the Southern Tier are facing a critical time.  Even before Hurricane Irene devastated communities the recession had taken a heavy toll.  Central New York and the Southern Tier had been steadily losing jobs over the past years.  During the last decade the Southern Tier has seen IBM, Maple Vale Books and many other businesses big and small shut down or leave the area.  Drive through the small towns and witness the boarded-up businesses and empty strip malls.  Their children, faced with this blight and lack of opportunity, are deciding to leave New York for brighter opportunities.  Now landowners must deal with Hurricane Irene’s devastation on top of an already bad economy and they are close to the breaking point.

The excruciatingly long SGEIS review process has taken an emotional toll on landowners as well.  The contentious debate over the past 3 ½ years has left landowners feeling demonized for supporting the right to develop their land and it has divided communities.  It is time to move forward with safe, regulated drilling and allow the resulting job creation, cheap gas and economic progress to uplift and heal these communities.

This is a turning point for the region.  The landowners in Central New York and the Southern Tier have been patient but this process must come to an end now.  The livelihoods of over 70,000 New York landowners depend on Marcellus development.  And the economic uplift to the region will benefit all Southern Tier residents in the form of new jobs, tax revenues and abundant natural gas.  If New York passes on the Marcellus Shale opportunity, it will inconvenience the gas companies but they will survive and move elsewhere.  The opposition will chalk up another “victory” for the environment and move on to save the salamanders somewhere.  But the landowners will remain and try to scrape together an existence.  They will see their sons and daughters leave the area and they will likely follow; maybe over the border to Pennsylvania where they can find work and dream about what could have been in New York.

The following appeared in the Dunkirk Observer - “Groups representing a number of different sectors have banded together in New York state with a common agenda: making our state more competitive through fewer mandates.

Some of the organizations represented in the newly formed Let NY Work coalition include the New York State School Boards Association, the Business Council of New York State, the state Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials, Unshackle Upstate and the Farm Bureau. “It’s a rainbow coalition that has gotten the attention of a lot of people,” said Timothy G. Kremer, New York State School Boards Association president.

Let NY Work has an agenda that includes:

Making the pension system predictable and affordable.

Redefining compulsory arbitration, which includes defining the ability to pay.

Reducing the cost of construction on public and private projects.

Freezing step increases when contracts expire, which currently does not happen courtesy of the Triborough Amendment.

Establishing minimum health insurance contribution levels for employees and retirees.

To read more click here.

Groups seek to capitalize on federal funding

Cara Matthews writes on pressconnects.com -”Health care advocates said Thursday that Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers must move quickly this session — before the new fiscal year starts April 1 — to set up a health care exchange and capitalize on millions of dollars in federal funding.

The Health Care For All New York coalition released two reports Thursday detailing the benefits that have already taken effect under the 2010 Affordable Care Act and personal stories of people who have benefited from the law.

The law requires that all states have health exchanges — marketplaces where individuals and small businesses can buy insurance — operating by Jan. 1, 2014. The federal government will intervene and create exchanges in states that have not set up viable models by Jan. 1, 2013.”

To read more click here.

Ken Lovett writes in the Daily News - “Gov. Cuomo will urge state lawmakers Wednesday to look at the successes of 2011 as a down payment toward moving the state forward this year.

In his second State of the State address, Cuomo will highlight the bipartisan cooperation that resulted last year in the legalization of gay marriage and the passage of a property tax cap, ethics reform and an on-time budget that cut spending.

“The theme of his speech will be building on the success of last year,” a source with knowledge of the address said. “Using the accomplishments, momentum and credibility generated last year to create jobs and grow the economy.”

To read more click here.