Senator O'Mara renews call for 'New Jobs-NY' after new U.S. Chamber of Commerce Study points to positive signs for New York turnaround
Albany, N.Y., June 16 —In the wake of a new study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranking New York as a top 10 state for “growth, productivity and livability,” State Senator Tom O’Mara (R-C, Big Flats) called upon the leadership of the State Assembly to approve legislation O’Mara co-sponsors to put in place a comprehensive economic development program called “New Jobs-NY.”
New Jobs-NY (S.7448) was recently approved by the Senate with strong, bipartisan support.
“This week’s U.S. Chamber of Commerce report reaffirms that the actions we’ve taken in New York State over the past two years to turn around the economy are beginning to work. But we can’t stop now. We can’t rest easy. Much more needs to be done and the Senate’s New Jobs-NY strategy would be the right move at the right time. The Assembly should act,” said O’Mara. “We need to keep doing anything and everything possible to cut taxes, help businesses grow and control state spending, which is the bedrock of the Senate plan. I think it’s especially important that the Senate plan targets a manufacturing resurgence as the foundation of future private-sector job growth and economic security for upstate communities and workers.”
The just-released Chamber of Commerce report, “Enterprising States,” showed New York jumping 11 places into the top 10 for growth, productivity and livability. The full report can be found on the Chamber’s website at: http://www.uschamber.com/press/releases/2012/june/new-us-chamber-study-reveals-how-states-create-policies-produce-jobs (pp. 13-14 for state-by-state ranking, and pg. 67 for New York information).
The study concludes that “states that boost exports, foster innovation, provide businesses with certainty and reasonable taxes, insist on excellence in education, and prioritize infrastructure are leading on job creation and economic growth.”
[Read Governor Andrew Cuomo's statement in response]
The Senate’s New Jobs-NY plan, which must be approved by the Assembly and signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo before becoming law, proposes to strengthen the state’s economic competitiveness and improve New York’s business climate through a broad strategy involving significant tax relief, much of it aimed at private-sector job creation, and fiscal responsibility and spending control across state government. O’Mara said the Senate had pushed to include key portions of the New Jobs-NY plan as part of this year’s state budget. He added that business tax relief and job creation incentives remain a Senate priority.
Highlights of New Jobs-NY, which is supported by leading statewide business organizations including the Business Council of New York, Unshackle Upstate and the National Federation of Independent Businesses, include:
-- an unprecedented, three-year phase-out of the state corporate franchise tax and personal income tax paid by manufacturers;
-- providing small businesses with a corporate tax rate cut from 6.85 percent to 5.5 percent – a 20 percent reduction;
-- a 10% tax credit for approximately 800,000 small businesses that have at least one employee, have business income of less than $250,000, and that file under the personal income tax;
-- the accelerated elimination of a staggering 500-percent hike in the 18a assessment that New Yorkers pay on their utility bills approved by the Democrat-controlled state Legislature in 2009 and signed into law by then-Governor David Paterson. This tax hike took $1.2 billion out of the economy. The Senate plan would accelerate the phase-out of this tax hike by one year, from 2014 to 2013; and
-- a Hire-Now-NY proposal to initiate direct incentives to encourage businesses to expand the work force. For each new job created, a business would get a tax credit of up to $5,000. That credit would increase to up to $8,000 if the job goes to someone on unemployment. An enhanced Hire-A-Vet tax credit of up to $10,000 to any business that hires a veteran returning home from military service;
Additional provisions of the Senate’s 2012 New Jobs-NY plan include a two-percent state spending cap; requiring a super-majority vote to increase state taxes; placing a moratorium on new taxes and fees; and new regulatory reforms to cut expensive red tape for businesses.
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