Small Business Responds to Governor’s 2015 Agenda
ALBANY (January 21, 2015) – All of the following may be attributed to Mike Durant, State Director of NFIB in response to Governor Cuomo’s State of Opportunity Speech.
“While we appreciate the Governor’s focus on small business and his continued path of fiscal restraint, we are discouraged by the lack of broad tax cuts for small employers and deeply disappointed by the renewed push to increase the minimum wage.
The Governor’s tax proposal is a start but in no way a transformative push to change the outlook for small business. Effective tax policy is broad in impact and cannot exclude a substantial percentage of the small business community. We again call for a personal income tax cut which will fully incorporate all of New York’s small businesses and will push for productive dialogue on this issue over the next thirty days.
We also strongly urge a total rejection of the minimum wage proposal. Make no mistake, there is no deal to be made on this issue. In a budget that allegedly touts the importance of small employers, this is a nonsensical distraction and calls into question the sincere effort to help small business.
While the Governor’s rhetoric is correct regarding New York’s continued property tax problem, we emphatically disagree with his methodology. We will continue to lead as advocates for meaningful mandate relief for our schools and municipalities to both reform the cost drivers and comprehensively reduce New York’s substantial property tax burden.
We appreciate the call for a ‘Small Business Summit’, but with the push to increase minimum wage, we again find ourselves searching for clarity and consistency in the Governor’s small business agenda. We will analyze the Governor’s budget proposal over the coming days and continue our push for meaningful reforms aimed at sustaining and growing New York’s small businesses.”
