2018 Jobs & Opportunity Agenda to improve region’s economy, create jobs

According to the New York State Department of Labor, the Empire State lost a total of 500 jobs last year. The Buffalo-Niagara region lost 4,600 jobs. The Rochester area lost 3,500 jobs. 

Families, individuals, homeowners, seniors, veterans, local leaders, small businesses and manufacturers continue to tell me that New York’s overly burdensome regulatory practices and high taxes hinder our state and local economies and prevent job creation. All of us are continually frustrated with reports indicating that our state has some of the highest taxes in the nation. 

For example, the Tax Foundation– the nation’s leading independent tax policy nonprofit– places New York among the top 10 worst states, ranking 49th in individual taxes, 47th for property taxes and 43rd for sales taxes. Overall, New York is second-worst for tax climate. 

This environment makes it difficult for hard-working residents to find the good opportunities they need to stay and raise a family in Western New York. It limits the number of good-paying jobs for workers by preventing businesses from succeeding, while discouraging out-of-state companies from moving to our community.

That is why I am backing a new 2018 Jobs & Opportunity Agenda. The plan focuses on regulatory and economic development reforms, as well as comprehensive tax relief, to help make New York more competitive and foster job growth.

The 2018 Jobs & Opportunity Agenda would invest in workforce training to help residents connect with new and available employment opportunities; streamline and remove red tape, regulations and other obstacles to growth; and cut taxes to help small businesses and manufacturers succeed and create jobs.

What’s more, the plan also reforms the state’s economic development programs to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being used to create new jobs. The proposal creates a searchable database for all state projects so that individuals, businesses and public officials can monitor how public dollars are distributed.

Another important step is to shutdown the Governor’s START-UP NY. This program has failed to produce the job-creating results that were promised, and this proposal would stop the state from accepting new applications for the program by the end of this year.

Without a job and the ability to provide for your family, nothing else matters. The 2018 Jobs & Opportunity Agenda will make the state more competitive so that people will be able to live here, not be forced to leave.

Enacting this plan will revitalize our state and local economies, help create new jobs and give all Western New Yorkers the opportunity to succeed. For more information about this new agenda, visit my website, ranzenhofer.nysenate.gov. I will be sure to keep you posted on my continued efforts to improve Western New York’s economy.