Small Business Owners Take on Big Issues at Albany Advocacy Day

Date: March 20, 2019

Protecting tax cap, improving business climate, top priorities at Small Business Day

ALBANY, March 19, 2019 — Business leaders and small business owners from across New York met with elected officials in Albany for NFIB’s Small Business Day 2019. The event, with close to 100 attendees, presented an opportunity for hardworking men and women to advocate for reforms that will create jobs, grow the state’s economy, and support the small business ecosystem in New York.

“Small businesses employ half of New York’s workforce and provide opportunity in every community across our state,” said Greg Biryla, NFIB’s New York State Director. “It’s critical that decision-makers in Albany listen to the voices of small business when considering state policy–strong small businesses build a strong middle-class. The large turnout from Main Street business owners and partners in the business community underscore how important it is for lawmakers from both parties to aggressively address New York’s burdensome tax and regulatory climate, and consider issues through the lens of small business.”

Small Business Day attendees called on lawmakers to enact measures that would lower taxes, ease regulations, and promote private sector job growth, including making the Real Property Tax Cap permanent. Advocates also preached caution to the legislature about any expansion of New York’s prevailing wage mandate, citing it as a cost escalator for the building industry but also a job killer for small businesses.

Before meeting with 60 individual legislative offices in the state Capitol, Small Business Day participants heard from guest speakers, including New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, New York State Senator Anna Kaplan, and New York State Senator Rob Ortt.

Following a distinguished tenure representing Long Island in the State Assembly, Tom DiNapoli was selected to fill the vacant State Comptroller’s office in 2007 by a bipartisan vote in the state legislature. Comptroller DiNapoli was reelected with broad public support in 2010, 2014, 2018. As Comptroller, DiNapoli is known for his integrity, independence, and even-keeled leadership.

Senator Anna Kaplan is a first-term Senator representing the 7th Senate District which encompasses communities in northwestern Nassau County. Before winning election to the State Senate in 2018, Kaplan served on the Town of North Hempstead Council and the Great Neck Library Board.

Senator Rob Ortt was first elected to represent the 62nd District of the New York State Senate in 2014 encompassing all or parts of Niagara, Orleans, and Monroe Counties. Before seeking state office, Ortt served as North Tonawanda City Mayor and served his country in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom with the United States Army.

The significance of Small Business Day at the Capitol is clear when you look at the huge impact those companies have on the state’s economy. There are 2.1 million small businesses in New York employing more than half of the state’s workforce, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

 

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NFIB is the voice of small business, advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals. NFIB is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses, and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.NY.

Related Content: Small Business News | New York

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