New York State Victories
The following NFIB victories will make a real difference for your business.
Recent NFIB/New York victories:
Obtained workers' compensation reform for small businesses
Workers' compensation rates in New York state will be reduced on average 20.5 percent, due to some enacted reforms to the workers' compensation system.
Stopped Gov. Spitzer's paid family leave mandate
With the strong response of our members, the governor's proposal to mandate that virtually all private employees be entitled to up to 12 weeks of paid family leave, through the state's temporary and disability insurance program was stopped.
Established a health insurance mandate review commission
A health-insurance mandate review commission was established this year to serve as a check against legislatively mandated benefits that drive the ever-increasing cost of health insurance for private employers in New York. This was one of our top priorities, and we're pleased to report that NFIB/New York State Director Mike Elmendorf was recently appointed to this commission.
Stopped minimum wage hike
We stopped the proposal to increase the state's minimum wage to $7.75 in 2008, $8 in 2009 and $8.25 in 2010. Most troubling of all, this legislation would also have increased the minimum wage rate for years subsequent to 2011, by indexing the minimum wage based upon the rate of inflation and the consumer price index.
Stopped governor's proposal to expand New York's bottle deposit law
We were instrumental in stopping the governor's proposal to vastly expand New York's bottle deposit law, which would have created a costly, messy burden for retailers and consumers alike.
Stopped New York's trial lawyers
The governor vetoed legislation that would have allowed a plaintiff in a tort action to directly sue the defendant's insurance company to determine the existence and extent of insurance coverage between a policyholder and its insurance carrier where the third party has sued to policyholder, even prior to the determination of the liability of the policyholder to the third party in the underlying tort action.
Required state agencies to issue small business compliance guides
All state agencies are now required to develop a plain language guide explaining the steps necessary for small businesses to take in order to comply with new laws and regulations and post this information on their agency's Web site.
