Senator LaValle Says the New State Budget Hurts Small Business

Senator LaValle today announced that the new state budget imposes taxes and fees that will have a devastating impact on small businesses and cost New York thousands of jobs.  The state budget process was conducted behind closed doors by three Democrats from New York City, while the needs of people from Buffalo to Montauk were left unattended.

“The Senate Republican Conference is trying to stop measures that will increase the cost of doing business and send jobs to other states,” said Senator LaValle.  “The people of our state deserve a full, open, and public budget debate, not a rubber stamp on a bad budget that increases taxes and causes more jobs to be lost to other states.”

Among the taxes and fees included in the Democrats budget plan are:

A 500% increase in the tax on utility bills;

A Personal Income Tax (PIT) increase on small firms paying business taxes through PIT;

A “Covered Lives Assessment” health care tax that could impose new costs of approximately $300 per employee annually;

A new registration fee ranging from $1000 to $5000 for tobacco retailers;

A new filing fee for non-LLC partnerships; and

A $14 million increase in tax on sales of wine and beer.

Senator LaValle noted that there are more that 1.6 million small businesses in New York, which account for 99 percent of all businesses in our state and 57 percent of total employment.  State Democrats have agreed to a budget that will have a harsh impact on these vital employers.