Archive for May, 2009

Mayor Bloomberg and speaker Quinn unveil package legislation

New York, NY According to mayor Michael Bloomberg and council speaker Christine Quinn, one of the world’s most comprehensive packages of legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing government, commercial, and residential buildings has been launched. A six-point plan, when enacted as part of PlaNYC, will reduce the city’s energy usage and save consumers money, while creating thousands of well-paying jobs and reducing the city’s carbon footprint. The six-point plan consists of four pieces of new legislation and two PlaNYC programs that will achieve carbon reductions, train workers for the estimated 19,000 construction jobs that will be created, and help finance energy-saving improvements using $16 million available from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The plan will also result in cleaner air, since emissions from boilers, furnaces, and local power plants will also be reduced.

According to the PlaNYC inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, almost 80% of the city’s carbon footprint comes from buildings’ energy use. Once implemented, the legislation will reduce citywide emissions by 5%, the equivalent of eliminating all carbon emissions from Oakland, Calif.

Read the entire report: Real Estate

A new report from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials ranked the condition of New York’s major roads as 43rd in the nation. The study measured the vibration of cars while driving on the country’s major roads, but did not factor in traffic or potholes. In New York, 22 percent of roads were ranked poor and 35 percent were rated good.

Read the full report (PDF file):  Rough Roads

BALCONY-Rochester Hosts May 1st Health Care Forum

BALCONY Director Lou Gordon discusses Health Care Reform in New York

Seeks to Find Common Ground in Reforming New York’s Health Care System

The Business and Labor Coalition of New York, BALCONY, hosted a Rochester Area Health Care Forum on Friday, May 1st at the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, and was attended by more than 80 persons from labor unions, small businesses, health care providers, community advocacy groups and legislators. The event focused on updates on health care reform efforts at the local, state and national levels and on finding common ground between business and labor on practical solutions for improving New York’s health care system.

The Forum commenced with introductions by Mark Cronin, Regional Vice President, Lakes Region, American Cancer Society and James Nofziger Co-Chair BALCONY-Rochester Health Care Forum.

Keynote speakers featured a panel of government, business and labor leaders, including U.S. Congressman from the 29th Congressional District Eric Massa, NYS Assembly Insurance Committee Chair Joseph Morelle, NYS Assembly 131st District and Lou Gordon, Director of BALCONY, who made presentations about the current status of reform efforts before engaging in an extended question-and-answer session with members of the audience. Sally Trafton, from the Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency, provided data on the health status of the Rochester area.

An additional panel was formed and moderated by Moderated by Fran Weisberg, Executive Director, Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency where comments were made by James Bertolone, President of Rochester Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Michael Elmendorf, NYS Director of National Federation of Independent Business, Daniel E. Richardson, Director of Finance and Planning of Hamilton Manor & Latta Road Nursing Homes, and Peter G. Robinson, Vice President and Chief Operating Office of University of Rochester Medical Center. Closing remarks were made by Tom Gillett, Regional Director of New York State United Teachers.

Many of the participants offered positive comments about the forum on feedback forms provided, with 90% indicating a willingness to participate in a follow-up event. One wrote, “An excellent cross section of presenters and ideas. There is hope!”

BALCONY offered this event in coordination with its Rochester area organizing partners: the American Cancer Society, Monroe Plan for Medical Care, Downtown Community Forum, Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency, IBEW Local 86, New York State United Teachers, and the Rochester Area Labor Federation.

View some of presentation videos: Rochester Forum Videos

View the PowerPoint: Tafton
View the PowerPoint as a PDF file: Tafton

$70 million for 9/11 Health Care in President’s Budget

Press statement from Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Peter King (R-NY), and Michael McMahon (D-NY)

Washington, D.C. – Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Peter King (R-NY), and Michael McMahon (D-NY) today applauded the inclusion of $70,723,000 in funding for the World Trade Center Health Programs in President Obama’s budget for Fiscal Year 2010. The lawmakers are sponsors of the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (H.R. 847), which would provide more than $10 billion for critical health care and compensation for those sickened or injured in the aftermath of 9/11. The Members of Congress hope to pass the bill with President Obama’s support by the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

“It’s a new administration and a new day for 9/11 health programs. This $70 million in federal funding will keep the doors of 9/11 health clinics open until we pass comprehensive 9/11 health legislation, hopefully this summer,” said Rep. Maloney. “I thank President Obama for his continued support of the heroes and heroines of 9/11.”

“I want to thank President Obama for including this $70 million in funding for the WTC Health Programs,” said Rep. Nadler. “This $70 million will be put to immediate use for the significant health care needs of first responders, residents, workers and students who are suffering ill health effects as a result of exposure to post-9/11 toxins. Now let’s pass the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act and ensure that sufficient funding will be available every year for these victims.”

“It’s been over seven years since the heroes of 9/11 were exposed to the toxins of the dust cloud, yet the health effects from exposure continue to develop,” said King. “The World Trade Center Health Programs are essential to monitoring the health of all who were exposed and I am pleased that the president has included 9/11 health funding in his budget.”

“President Obama’s inclusion of $70 million for 9/11 health programs shows the residents of New York City, and the citizens of this country at large, that we will indeed never forget,” said Rep. McMahon. “I applaud the President for his commitment to these heroes.”

Earlier this year, the House passed and President Obama signed into law the Fiscal Year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act (H.R. 1105), which contains $70 million in funding for FY 2009 for federal 9/11 health programs.

Please click here for a summary of the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, and here for a Q&A on the legislation.

M.T.A. Rescue Passes, but Impact Is Questioned

by William Neuman and Nicholas Confessore

The State Legislature passed a series of new taxes and fees late Wednesday night meant to keep New York’s base subway fare from rising above $2.25 this year. But the hastily drafted bill, approved largely along party lines, raised many questions about how the plan would work and how effective it would be in stabilizing the struggling Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

In the short term, the plan would appear to raise significantly less money this year than in some earlier projections, although legislative staff members said it would be enough to get the authority through the year.

There were also questions about how a 50-cent surcharge on yellow cab rides in New York City would be collected from thousands of taxi drivers and owners.

And in the Senate, Republicans harshly criticized a promise in the bill to have the state reimburse school districts for the cost of a payroll tax, saying there was no guarantee the promise would be kept.

Questions also remained about the authority’s capital spending program, which is only partially financed in the rescue plan.

The vote came five months and two days — an agonizing period of political wrangling and brinksmanship — after a rescue plan for the transit system was proposed by Gov. David A. Paterson and Richard Ravitch, a former authority chairman, who had been appointed by the governor to head a commission on the authority’s finances.

In the end, the bill passed largely along partisan lines, with only Democrats voting for it in both the Assembly and the Senate. Republicans, many of whom objected to the additional taxes, were unanimously opposed. In the Assembly, some Democrats voted no, but in the Senate, all 32 Democrats voted for the bill.

Democrats hold a 32-to-30 majority in the Senate, and much of the delay in forging the rescue plan was due to objections from Democrats there.

It was not until this week that the last Senate holdouts were won over through a compromise on the school reimbursement. Aides to the governor and the Legislature worked overnight Tuesday and throughout the day on Wednesday, racing to finish writing the bill in time for a vote Wednesday night.

The bill included the payroll tax, of 34 cents for every $100 in wages, to be paid by employers in the 12 counties served by the transportation authority. It also included a series of fees on drivers and vehicles, the taxi surcharge, a $25 surcharge on vehicle registrations, a $2 fee on drivers licenses and an additional 5 percent tax on car rentals.

The bill did not set a new subway fare — only the authority can do that — but officials said it would give the authority enough money to prevent a planned fare and toll increase this year of 20 to 30 percent. It would also halt deep service cuts.

Legislative leaders and officials at the authority agreed that the base subway and bus fare would rise to $2.25, from $2. Other fares, commuter rail tickets and tolls would go up about 10 percent.

Together, the new taxes and fees would raise about $1.9 billion a year for the authority. This year, because less than a full year’s revenue would be captured, they would raise $1.1 billion.

But even that is less, by at least $165 million, than estimates that legislative staff members were working with as recently as Tuesday.

Among the reasons: Earlier versions of the plan called for the payroll tax to apply retroactively to wages paid since Jan. 1. But the bill changed that to March 1 for most employers. Schools, on the other hand, will not have to begin paying the tax until Sept. 1.

The bill also postponed the start of collections on the taxi surcharge until January 2010.

It was not clear how the tax would be collected from thousands of taxi owners.

In the debate on the bill on Wednesday, Senate Republicans like Andrew Lanza of Staten Island questioned the promise to reimburse school districts for the payroll tax, since it must be appropriated by the Legislature each year.

“That’s the guarantee?” Mr. Lanza said.

MTA ‘doomsday’ scenario averted as Gov. Paterson, legislature reach deal

By Glenn Blain and Pete Donohue

Doomsday derailed!

Gov. Paterson and state legislative leaders agreed Tuesday night on a transit-funding plan eliminating the need for sky-high fare hikes and deep service cuts, officials said.

The bailout, which could be adopted through legislation as soon as Wednesday, includes an employer-paid payroll tax, a 50-cent surcharge on taxi trips and other measures to fund the subway, bus and commuter train system.

“Halleluiah,” Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign said. “It’s great news for subway, bus and commuter rail riders.”

The deal also provides two-years worth of funding for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s next five-year capital program starting next year.

That program includes basic maintenance and upgrades to tracks, signals and other equipment.

“We have rescued this system from the brink of the abyss,” Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) said.

Facing massive – and ballooning – deficits, the MTA had scheduled fare hikes up to 30% to hit straphangers May 1, and commuter train riders the next day.

A monthly MetroCard was set to rise from $81 to an eye-popping $103.

The deal, announced in Albany by Paterson, Silver and Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens), calls for more modest hikes raising fare and toll revenues by 10%, officials said. A monthly MetroCard now will likely be priced at about $89.

The one-way cash subway and bus fare, now $2, is expected to increase to $2.25 – not $2.50.

The deal signals an end to the roller coaster ride straphangers have been on for nearly a year with a series of MTA budget proposals, hearings, cost-cutting plans and ballooning deficits as the recession continued to depress tax revenues.

The MTA will not have to enact such Draconian cuts leading to the elimination of more than two dozen local bus routes, longer waits for subway trains and the overnight shuttering of a few stations it authorized earlier this year.

“This has been very difficult for the commuters of the MTA region,” Paterson said. “We can assure them this evening there will be no surprises. There will be no further cuts or fears about fare hikes or toll increases.”

A state commission headed by former MTA Chairman Richard Ravitch released a transit-funding plan in December that included the payroll tax and tolls on East and Harlem river bridges.

Some senate Democrats opposed tolls, stalling the rescue effort. The plan agreed to Tuesday does not include tolling the free bridges.

Smith called it “victory for the public” that the Senate stood firm against tolls.

Democrats have a 32-30 majority in the Senate and need every Democrat to vote for the rescue plan in the face of unified Republian opposition.

Transit officials have said that they would likely push back the May 31 and June 1 fare-hikes to do the computer programing and other necessary work to implement the scaled-back increases.

Read more: “MTA ‘doomsday’ scenario averted as Gov. Paterson, legislature reach deal” – http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/05/05/2009-05-05_mta_doomsday_scenario_averted_as_gov_paterson_legislature_reach_deal.html#ixzz0EjNrIRRx&A

BALCONY REPORTS ON HEALTH CARE REFORM TO GREATER NEW YORK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

(L to R):
Lou Gordon, BALCONY Director.
Mark Jaffe, President of Greater New York Chamber of Commerce
Nick Lugo, President of New York City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

The Business and Labor Coalition of New York, BALCONY, participated in the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce’s business expo at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, April 23, 2009. Billed as a day of networking and expert panel advice, the business expo featured BALCONY Director Lou Gordon, who received a plaque in BALCONY’s name for embodying the spirit of entrepreneurship. Gordon addressed a lunch gathering of over five hundred business representatives, briefly outlining the constituencies that comprise BALCONY and the issues it cares about.

Gordon went into more detail about one of BALCONY’s signature issues, affordable health care for all New Yorkers. “Health care accounts for about 15% of the Gross National Product, and experts predict this might double by 2020,” Gordon warned. “There are now 48 million Americans who lack health care, including 2.6 million New Yorkers.” Gordon cited poll findings in, “The Health Care Pulse of Small Businesses” that BALCONY had commissioned in partnership with the American Cancer Society, AARP, the Small Business Majority and the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce stating that 44% of those companies surveyed offer their employees health insurance coverage while many felt the high cost of drugs and insurance were cost deterrents to providing insurance to workers. Gordon then straw-polled the audience on how many of the small business owners in attendance provided health coverage for their employees. He received a positive response that more small business owners would provide health care if its cost was not so high.

This point was amplified by Chamber President Mark Jaffe, who reminded the audience that healthy workers are more likely to be productive than those with lingering medical issues. Other speakers at the luncheon were Beatriz Manetta of Argent Associates, Nick Lugo, Founder and CEO of the New York City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Aziz Ahmad of UTC Associates and Joe Ithier a long time Greater New York Chamber advisory and board member.

The expert panel on entrepreneurial success occurred after lunch, chaired by Christine Serrano-Glassner of the U.S. Small Business Administration. It included Bruce Ventimiglia, co-chairman of BALCONY and President of Saratoga Capital Management, an asset allocation service and investment firm operating out of Garden City, New York. Mr. Ventimiglia had sage advice for those businesses facing a weak market. “Challenge your revenue drivers and cost components. Keep changing strategies to keep up with changes in the marketplace,” he intoned. “Renegotiate contracts to lower costs, and take a look at third party vendors, to see if they can replace functions now performed by staff, at a lower cost. Emphasize your good sellers, and don’t create loss leaders in a recession.” Ventimiglia also emphasized that competitors should not be treated as hated enemies, but as potential partners. “If my competitor and I can achieve greater market penetration or build a larger scale operation by merging, this is a benefit to both of us. The main job of a CEO is to understand assets and deploy them appropriately,” Ventimiglia responded to a question from the audience.

Ventimiglia was joined on the panel by Sheldon Kravitz of Plus Media Buying Services and Ray Mora of Argent Associates. Mr. Kravitz said that media advertising is the least well understood component of most businesses, and opined that 75% of advertisers pay more for media ads than they should. He emphasized that there were two aspects to media – cost efficient media planning and effective advertising buying. While Ventimiglia and Mora agreed that clients and customers were looking to cut back as the recession deepened, Kravitz (who represents a different kind of client) said that his clients were not cutting back, but were increasing their investments, because a financial crisis is the best time to gain market share from struggling competitors. Mr. Mora described how his company had grown over ten years and warned potential business owners and warned that “every company has cash cows, dogs, and stars. You must learn to identify your future stars if you want to build a successful business.”

BALCONY joined more than 50 businesses, associations, government agencies and others by hosting an informational booth at the expo. It was a very positive event and BALCONY will continue to partner with the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce in the future.

What Can Nonprofit Groups and Small Businesses Do To Save Money, Energy and the Environment?

Learn how small businesses and non-profits can take advantage of new resources to help them save money, improve the bottom line, and contribute to saving the environment. Learn from a panel of experts about “Green” opportunities and tools for small businesses.

On Friday, May 8th, at 9am to 10:30am Mark DeChiro of the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency, Betsy Wyman of Sundog Solar, and Sue Montgomery-Corey, President of Community Power Network will talk about “What Can Nonprofit Groups and Small Businesses Do To Save Money, Energy and the Environment?” The Capital District Community Loan Fund will be sponsoring this session in the conference room at 255 Orange Street. A light breakfast will be available. Small business owners and their representatives, non-profit executives and those involved in technical assistance to small businesses or non-profit organizations are encouraged to attend.

The program is organized by the Capital District Community Loan Fund and it is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to RSVP in advance by calling 436-8586. The site is handicapped accessible and parking is available. The Capital District Community Loan Fund, Inc. is a local community development financial institution that put the funds of local socially conscious investors to work as loans for local microenterprise businesses and non-profit organizations.

For more information about this program and others, call Paul Stewart at (518) 436-8586

Paul Stewart
Manager of Training and Technical Assistance
Capital District Community Loan Fund, Inc.
255 Orange Street, #103
Albany, NY 12210
518-436-8586