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LONG ISLAND NEEDS ITS OWN ECONOMIC STIMULUS PLAN

Job Creation Plan Must Be Substituted For Job Killing Tax Hikes

News from The Office of Senator Keneth P. LaValle
02/02/09

Senator LaValle expressed concern that jobs within the First Senate District would be in great jeopardy if Governor Paterson’s proposed $6 billion in tax increases, fee hikes, and other gimmicks are passed. Furthermore, the Governor wants to eliminate Empire Zone tax benefits and raise taxes on more than 2,000 businesses, including businesses in the Suffolk County Town of Riverhead and Town of Brookhaven Empire Zones. The Governor’s proposal would increase expenses for businesses, cause businesses to leave, and result in more jobs to be lost.

“With the economy already negatively affecting businesses, eliminating Empire Zone tax benefits could result cutting jobs to make up the difference,” said Senator LaValle. “I am calling for much more effective, commonsense Empire Zone reforms that would redirect existing funds into tax relief targeted at helping small businesses create jobs.

Senator LaValle’s commitment to creating new jobs was reaffirmed with the announcement that, nationwide, more than 78,000 jobs were lost in a single day. “It is critical to the recovery of our economy that we include new job creation initiatives in the 2009-10 state budget,” said Senator LaValle.

“We are in the midst of the worst economic times since the Depression,” continued Senator LaValle. “The collapse of the financial services industry has resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs on Long Island. Overall, more than 43,000 New Yorkers lost their jobs last month and millions more are worried about the future.”

Since December 2007, New York has lost more than 122,000 jobs. That number includes 21,600 in Nassau and Suffolk counties alone, bringing the current unemployment rate in the two-county region to 5.8 percent.

“Raising taxes for businesses and families would be the worst thing we could do for our economy. I am fighting to reduce the tax burden for businesses on Long Island in an effort to create jobs, not cut them,” said Senator LaValle.

Senator LaValle is committed to fighting for economic development funding in the budget and to ensuring that economic development programs are better utilized to create and maintain jobs on Long Island and across the state.

Senate Republicans proposed and passed a job creation plan last December that would:

*** Reform the Empire Zone program by redirecting unused program funds
to businesses to create jobs and improve accountability;

***Help small businesses obtain loans through a state loan guarantee
program;
***Reduce health insurance costs for employees of small businesses by
expanding the Healthy NY program;
***Expand tax credits for investments made by emerging technology
businesses;
***Provide low cost student loans to families and create a tax credit
program to offset loan costs for students who go to college in New York,
and stay employed in New York for 10 years;
***Eliminate state regulations, red tape and paperwork that shackle
small businesses through a “Berger” style commission that would review
regulations and issue recommendations that would become law, and,
***Give local governments greater authority to provide tax breaks for
community and neighborhood revitalization projects.

In addition to proposing an economic development plan, Senator LaValle has fought for a property tax cap to bring skyrocketing property taxes under control and for a constitutional state spending cap that would strictly limit increases in state spending.

“The lesson is simple, when you cut taxes you create jobs and help the economy, when you increase taxes you give businesses a reason to leave and cut jobs,” said Senator LaValle. “We must make my job creation plan part of this year’s budget. When coupled with the federal economic stimulus package, we can get New Yorkers working and earning once again so we can grow our way out of this recession.”