New York News Wrap

Charting New York's implosion:

Albany Times Union: Economic worry rising in New York; Poll finds 43 percent say state finances worsened over the past year, one-third find cause for optimism

Jamestown's Post-Journal: State Ranks Fourth Worst For ER Wait

Utica Observer-Democrat: Herkimer Co. business leaders voice concerns; Forum addresses high taxes, competition

New Yorkers Are in Good Hands

With less than a week before the latest legislative session wraps up, Albany is taking care of the important business first, The Albany-Times Union reports:

Assemblyman Thomas O'Mara wants to name this noble cultivar the official state grape. Moreover, O'Mara, a Republican from Horseheads, wants to designate grape juice the official state juice.

And other important matters await debate:

Audrey Pheffer, a Democratic Assemblywoman from Queens, wants to let medical doctors care for "orangutans, chimps, gorillas and other great apes."

Brooklyn Democratic Assemblyman Felix Ortiz wants a hot line allowing people to report violations of an earlier law he spearheaded that makes it illegal to talk on cellphones while driving. Presumably, tipsters will use hands-free devices if they're driving, or pull off the road to call in infractions.

Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, a Democrat from Mount Vernon, would ban pickup trucks from the Bronx River Parkway, citing the road's narrow, curvy nature and its scenic beauty. The law, though, doesn't propose banning ugly, rusted cars, or behemoth SUVs, which can dwarf some pickups.

A flurry of measures are pending to add more personalized or official-sounding license plates to the state's roster of more than 250 specialized tags. Proposals include special plates for members of the U.S. Power Sqaudron, a boating safety club; those who have been stationed in the military in Korea (their spouses, too); Kiwanis club members; African-American veterans; osteopathic physicians; nurse practitioners; and disabled volunteer firefighters.

I suppose one would have to be supremely optimistic to hope these bills will help stem the tide of young people fleeing New York.

Getting What We Pay For?

"New Yorkers are paying a four-star tax bill; we see that every time another study comes out ranking spending on this or that program," the Times Herald-Record writes. "If New Yorkers were getting four-star results, there might not be much to complain about. But they are not, so there is." The editorial continues:

Earlier this year, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston calculated that New York has average spending needs and well-above-average taxation. The Fed concluded that state and local taxes in New York are the highest in the nation when measured against the state's ability to produce revenue — 34 percent above the national average. Maine, a small and mostly rural state, was second at 18 percent, and several large states more comparable to New York — Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania — all had taxes significantly lower.

The future will not be much more affordable. Gov. Spitzer has promised more state aid to schools, which will push spending higher but not do anything to lower the tax burden on localities. All the talk about a Michigan-style tax revolution — raising some other tax, lowering the property tax, imposing state controls on spending — has gone away to be replaced by a convoluted system of rebates that require homeowners to apply and calculate and then cash checks for a few hundred dollars.

Click here for the rest.

(Via the Business Council's Knickerbocker Blog)

Spitzer's "Loopholes"

New York's Business Council calls out Governor Eliot Spitzer and The New York Times for their continued use of the phrase "closing loopholes" when they're actually describing tax hikes:

The New York Times continues its policy of referring to Governor Spitzer's business-tax proposals as efforts to close "loopholes," thus buying into one side's arguments in the debate over tax policy. Our Webster's defines "loophole" as: "an ambiguity or omission in the text through which the intent of a statute, contract, or obligation may be evaded." Most of the proposed tax changes in the Executive Budget affect provisions that previous governors and legislators wrote purposefully into the law, and that employers in New York are using exactly as intended. Senate Majority Leader Bruno, Assembly Minority Leader Tedisco, The Business Council and others have pointed these things out repeatedly. Senator Bruno even quoted from a Business Council brochure on the subject during Tuesday's leaders meeting: "These are no mere 'loophole' closings.'" The Times apparently hasn't noticed -- or maybe its reporters just disagree.

Earlier: Read His Lips
Related:
Albany Formula of 3 Men in a Room Expands to 6, With One at Odds with the Rest [NYT]
Bottle Bill Revenue a Bone of Contention [Middletown Times-Herald Record]

How To Fix Upstate New York?

Not through government "investments," writes a Buffalo ex-pat in today's Post-Standard:

A few years ago I wrote a letter regarding the "Come Home to Syracuse" campaign. At the time I wrote: "Come Home, Go Broke."

Three years later, the story is the same. Taxes haven't dropped one penny, and we still have the delusional government leaders thinking we need to dump even more money into schools, universities, economic development programs, blah, blah, blah. It's insanity!

This year I formed a company in Virginia Beach with a few ex-Buffalo residents, and we are going great guns. We are developing those much-talked-about "nanotechnology" products that seem to be the Upstate fantasy. And we are doing it with our own money, while giving a lot less in tax dollars to the local government.

Better yet, I received multiple patents in 2006 for some very high-end technology. I did it on my own dime, with no "University Technology Transfer" assistance. Who needs it? Just leave me alone, let me keep more of my tax dollars, and my personal Upstate economy will do just fine.

Scott Grimshaw
Marcellus