February 20, 2009
Guest viewpoint: Time for state to show support for businesses
By Lou Santoni and Brian Sampson
Since announcing his proposed budget in mid-December, we have heard Gov. Paterson talk about shared sacrifice. And we all understand what that means.
The governor is telling us that the situation is perilous and that we, as New Yorkers, need to share the pain in order to return the state to prosperity. That seems fair, right?
So what happened to that idea when Albany passed the Deficit Reduction Plan? The DRP doesn't share the pain, but rather puts unfair and unnecessary pain on the very people who are creating much needed employment opportunities in this region.
The plan is, in effect, a series of budget cuts, taxes, and financial "sweeps" (taking money from an agency or authority and putting it in the state's general fund) meant to balance the current state budget so we don't carry a deficit into the 2009-10 budget.
We think it is safe to say that businesses and the people they employ contributed their fair share. Consider the following:
* In a time when businesses and individuals are struggling to afford health insurance, a new $240 million assessment was applied to health insurance premiums. The new assessment will inevitably result in higher rates for people that receive insurance through their employer
* The Healthy NY program, a formerly subsidized program that was created to help smaller businesses afford health insurance for their employees, will now be covered by yet another assessment charged to insurance carriers. This new assessment totals $274 million.
* A "sweep" of New York Power Authority totaling over $400 million will inevitably have an impact on a low-cost power program designed to create jobs and save existing ones
There are other smaller taxes and assessments that were part of the DRP. Overall, they total more than $800 million, or half, of the total cuts, taxes and sweeps that were done to balance the budget. We've taken our lumps and now we're asking for the governor and Legislature to make sure that others share in the sacrifice.
In order to compete, businesses need the burdens placed on them by government to be lessened. That can be achieved by implementing true reform measures contained in Unshackle Upstate's 2009 Policy Agenda and items from the proposed 2009-10 budget. That includes:
* Cap Medicaid and Education spending at 2008-09 levels. Potential saving to the state is $5.1 billion.
* Continue government consolidation and implement shared services. Potential saving to the state is $2 billion.
* Restructure public employee benefits (such as the Tier 5 system) and continue to push for wage concessions in current bargaining agreements.
We agree with shared sacrifice and have done our part. Now is the time for others to do the same. We ask the governor and Legislature not to succumb to the pressure from groups that are refusing to take their fair share - they need to hold their ground. Because if they falter, the state will continue to hemorrhage private sector jobs that we may never recover.
Now, more than ever, we need policies that will create the private sector jobs that are essential to New York's economic revitalization. Businesses are not the enemy. They are employers, the creators of job and wealth, the lifeblood of our economy. They need and deserve the state's support.
