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.

This from the Public Employees Federation website.

“By a count of 27,718 to 11,645, members of the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) ratified a revised four-year agreement with the state that averts significant layoffs.

The ratification of the new agreement saves the jobs of 3,496 PEF members and preserves the vital services our members provide.

The agreement preserves the pay-scale, the employment and the careers of PEF members. It maintains increments and salary-grade parity, longevity payments and co-pays for doctor visits at their current levels. It calls for no salary increases for years 2011, 2012 and 2013. A salary increase of 2 percent is included for 2014.

The new contract increases the share members will pay of their health insurance premiums, but includes changes to the productivity enhancement program which will allow members greater opportunity to use vacation time to offset health insurance costs. The new contract includes reimbursement for the 9 furlough days payable at the end of the agreement.”

To read more click here.

All Governmental Funds tax collections for the first half of state fiscal year 2011–12 rose 12.6 percent from the same period last year, but were $391.9 million less than updated Financial Plan projections, according to the September 2011 Cash Report released Wednesday by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. Year–to–date growth of 18.3 percent in General Fund Personal Income Tax collections largely reflects robust estimated tax settlements based on 2010 earnings and does not necessarily reflect current economic conditions.

In a NY Post editorial, EJ McMahon writes:

“The cover of New York state’s latest budget update features a photo taken from within a Central Park tunnel, looking out toward a path curving up a gentle incline through a verdant landscape. Just ahead, a lamp (redundantly) glows in the light of day.

A light is indeed visible at the end of the proverbial tunnel for New York, thanks to Gov. Cuomo’s first-year budget management. However, despite his promising start, Albany’s progress could easily stall before the state fully emerges from the shadows of the fiscal crisis that began three years ago.

While Cuomo has pointed fiscal policy in a better direction, his vaunted “transformation” of government is barely under way. School aid, Medicaid and local property taxes have all been capped — but most of the state laws, regulations and mandates that drive up costs remain in place.

Meanwhile, the economic outlook is weaker than the governor had forecast when his budget was adopted, just before the April 1 start of the fiscal year. And even if the economy improves, stubborn challenges remain.”

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

“The passage of a property tax cap is great news for all New Yorkers. It sends a signal to business leaders that the state is prepared to control the cost of government and begin to rebuild our private sector economy,” said Heather Briccetti, acting-president & CEO of The Business Council of New York State, Inc.

The property tax cap has long been a priority of The Business Council. It will contain the growth of local government spending and ultimately make New York more affordable for homeowners and businesses. New York State paid a staggering $48 billion in property taxes in 2010, up five percent from 2009.

The 2009 increase over 2008 was six percent. Businesses paid nearly 44 percent of the total tax levy, $21 billion, by far the largest non-federal tax on private sector employers. The passage of the cap completes a very positive legislative session in which much of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s and The Business Council’s fiscal reform agenda became real.

In addition to getting a property tax cap enacted into law during the 2011 legislative

session, The Business Council worked hard to advance a pro-business agenda in Albany.

As a result of our efforts we were able to proclaim the following victories for business:

• A state budget with no new broad-based taxes

• Caps on future Medicaid and school aid spending

• Improvements in the Excelsior Jobs program

• A new Article X siting law for power generation

• The Recharge NY economic development power program

• An initial local government mandate relief package

• Savings through negotiations with state workforce unions

The Council defeated legislation to expand the state’s Martin Act, with our advocacy efforts culminating in a rare defeat of legislation in the Assembly Codes Committee. The Council also led the fight against significant new energy costs, such as mandated utility purchase of expensive solargenerated electric power.

All of these achievements will lead to an improved business climate in New York.

To read more click on this link  end-of-session-flyer

“Schools are seeking an average increase of 3.4 percent in their property-tax levies in the 2011-12 school year, data released Wednesday by the state Department of Education show.” writes Joseph Spector in the Poughkeepsie Journal.

“The average tax increase is about the same as in the current school year, when schools limited the growth in taxes to 3.2 percent. The newest figures show that even as schools curb spending, taxes continue to rise — fueled by growing costs and a decline in state aid.

Spending increases for the upcoming school year, which starts July 1, average about 1.3 percent, the data show. Also, school enrollment is virtually flat, going up just 0.7 percent.”

To read more click here.

Tell Speaker Silver to enact a 2 percent property tax cap Now! Click here to send a Message to the Speaker and your local legislators!

“While there is common ground in the budget resolutions the Senate and Assembly passed Tuesday, they differ on key issues like education funding and whether to continue an income-tax surcharge on wealthy New Yorkers.” writes Cara Matthews on pressconnects.com.

“With the resolutions in hand, negotiations now begin in earnest between the two houses and between the Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo. All sides have expressed optimism that 2011-12 budget will be adopted by the April 1 start of the new year, unlike the current one, which was more than four months late.

“I think the tone that the governor has set for the resolution of this year’s budget fiscal crisis is totally appropriate and all of us, I believe the (Assembly) speaker, certainly the governor and our conference, believe that we can have an on-time budget,” Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, said during a news conference Tuesday.”

To read more click here.

To help us show New York’s legislators that it’s time to fix New York’s $10 billion budget deficit. Please click here and email your state assemblymember and senator in support of Governor Cuomo’s plan to move our state forward by fixing Albany’s finances, creating jobs and growing our state’s economy.

In an editorial by the Daily News they once again point out that raising taxes will not save New York’s economy - cutting spending will.

“State lawmakers banging the drum for yet another tax hike betray a fundamental ignorance about the root cause of New York’s fiscal crisis:

It’s the spending, stupid.

That needs saying because Assembly Democrats up to and including Speaker Sheldon Silver are laboring under the false idea that New York’s problem is a lack of tax revenue.”

To read more click here.

Help us show New York’s legislators that it’s time to fix New York’s $10 billion budget deficit without raising taxes. Please CLICK HERE and email your state assemblymember and senator in support of Governor Cuomo’s plan to move our state forward by fixing Albany’s finances, creating jobs and growing our state’s economy.

Joseph Spector writes on stargazette.com - “ith less than a month before the state budget is due to be adopted, the battle lines are becoming increasingly hardened at the state Capitol as lawmakers and special-interest groups stake out their positions on taxing the wealthy, increasing aid to schools and reforming health care.

Over the past week, discontentment with the budget became clearer. Assembly Democrats said they would introduce their own budget bill to continue a higher income-tax bracket on the wealthy. Senate Republicans and Gov. Andrew Cuomo said they oppose it.

On education cuts, lawmakers vowed that if they can’t lower Cuomo’s $1.5 billion reduction in school funding, they would seek a new formula to more equally distribute the $19.4 billion in education aid.”

To read more click here.

“Business groups typically spend the first half of the year in Albany fending off tax increases, state borrowing schemes and expanded regulation. This year they expect to be on offense, driving their bills toward the goal line without much fear of being scored upon.

But the fate of business-backed bills to cap property taxes, reform workers’ compensation and permanently extend a subsidized-power program hinges on the outcome of the business community’s top priority: Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s budget.

Business’ agenda begins with the budget because of its game-changing premise of lower spending and no borrowing or tax hikes. Passage would enhance the governor’s clout and bode well for passage of pro-business bills he supports. By the same token, if the budget is substantially changed or delayed, the rest of the wish list would be jeopardized,” writes Erik Engquist in Crain’s New York Business.

To read more click here.