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Taxes & Regulation
Development & Construction
Workforce Development
Transportation & Infrastructure
Our policy priorities at the
federal, state and local level.
ADVOCACY AGENDA
January 2016
The release of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership’s 2016 Advocacy Agenda signifies an important milestone for our organization. This is the first time we have identified our policy priorities at the federal, state and local level in one central document. This agenda is also a reflection of our ongoing efforts to more actively involve our dedicated members in the development of our agenda through a comprehensive issues survey and alignment with the advocacy focus of our five key industry councils.
Our 2016 Advocacy Agenda articulates nearly two dozen specific positions focused in one of four broad policy areas: Taxes & Regulation, Development & Construction, Workforce Development, and Transportation & Infrastructure. Instead of just a listing of priorities, our Advocacy Agenda aims to provide context and explain why these issues are critical to employers and economic development efforts in Buffalo Niagara.
This document will drive the Partnership’s advocacy work for the year, guide our discussions with elected officials and decision makers, and focus our programming and events over the next 12 months. We want to thank our members and staff for all their efforts to help produce the Partnership’s 2016 Advocacy Agenda. We look forward to working with our members and elected officials to accomplish as many of these priorities as possible and build an even better, stronger Buffalo Niagara in the process.
Sincerely,
Grant Loomis
Vice President, Government Affairs
Dottie Gallagher-Cohen
President & CEO
2 0 1 6
Advocacy Agenda
2 | 2016 ADVOCACY AGENDA LOCAL STATE FEDERAL
STRATEGIES KEY:
Oppose Minimum Wage IncreaseGovernor Cuomo’s proposal to raise the minimum
wage to $15 an hour is unprecedented in its size and
scope. This hike will mean fewer jobs for those who
are already struggling and higher consumer prices for
goods and services across the board. This 67% increase
will not only negatively impact employers, but local
property taxpayers, first-time job seekers, and senior
citizens on fixed incomes. We are joining forces with
more than two dozen state and regional organizations
to build the Minimum Wage Reality Check coalition to
better educate the public on the consequences of this
proposal.
Reform Workers’ Compensation New York State’s Workers’ Compensation program
was substantially reformed in 2007. Unfortunately,
all these years later, many of the reforms have not
been fully implemented and, as a result, employers’
costs continues to climb.
Taxes & RegulationBuffalo Niagara employers operate in the one of the most highly taxed and overly regulated economic environments anywhere in the country. Our members continue to identify taxes and regulations as the number one barrier to their growth and success. Government at all levels must work overtime to address these very real concerns. Unfortunately, instead of just advocating for the elimination or rollback of several regressive policies, we must turn our attention to blocking new and expanding proposals that will continue to strangle entrepreneurship and economic investment.
S T R A T E G I E S
Small Business Tax ReliefNew York State must make a strong commitment
to delivering targeted tax relief for small
businesses. Personal income tax reductions and/or
percentage exemptions must be advanced since the vast
majority of small business owners pay their business
taxes through personal income tax.
Lower Healthcare Costs Despite attempts at reform, healthcare costs
remain far too high for Buffalo Niagara employers.
We support affordable and comprehensive access
to health insurance without imposing new
mandates and taxes on employers. In
addition, the medical tort system must be
reformed to discourage defensive medicine
which remains a significant cost driver.
MINIMUM WAGE REALITY CHECK:
18-a Utility TaxImmediately eliminate remaining section of the 18-a
utility tax to lower energy bills for manufacturers and
other high demand users.
Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) Ensure this initiative is market driven and
transparent.
Projected job losses200,000
in NYS15,400 in WNY
= $16.71Current Buffalo Niagara median
wage for all occupations
25% of all employees in Buffalo Niagara work in non-food service jobs paying
less than $15/hr.
No developed country has a
minimum wage above $12/hr.
when adjusted for purchasing parity
d Align Scheduled Loss of Use (SLU) payments with
updated evaluation guidelines to accurately reflect
medical advancements that have improved recovery
times and outcomes.
d Reduce SLU compensation awards that are unrelated
to actual lost work time.
20142008 2010
19th
13th
4th WORST
New York State has the fourth highest Workers’ Compensation premiums in the country, up from the 19th highest back in 2008.
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Development & ConstructionThere is no denying the building boom currently underway in Buffalo Niagara. Our regional economy continues to benefit from new construction projects and the redevelopment of existing properties. The Buffalo Niagara Partnership and other groups successfully secured a 10-year extension of New York State’s Brownfield Cleanup Program in 2015 to help continue our current momentum, but more must be done. Additional reforms are critical to lowering construction costs and incentivizing the redevelopment of contaminated properties. Our community also needs to coalesce around sound public policy to encourage private sector investment, instead of building barriers with anti-business regulations.
S T R A T E G I E S
Scaffold Law Reform New York is the only state in the
nation operating under an outdated
Scaffold Law unfairly holding property
owners, employers and contractors
absolutely liable for injuries when a
worker falls on a construction site.
Under the current law, any contributing fault of the
worker – even gross negligence, intoxication or refusal to
use safety equipment – cannot be considered in court.
Reduce the costs and barriers to redevelopment by reforming remediation requirements and incentivizing abatement of:
d Reform the Scaffold Law by replacing absolute
liability with a comparative negligence standard.
This change would allow liability to be apportioned
based on fault – the standard that exists in every
state except New York.
Number of Scaffold Law cases has increased 500% since 1990, even though the rate of injury has decreased
Taxpayers
New York’s general liability insurance costs are highest in the nation
year
THE COST OF SCAFFOLD LAW:
/$785M
$1.49BPrivate business
year/
• Asbestos
• Lead Paint
• Mold
Establish a vacant property registry in the City of Buffalo to better tackle urban blight and highlight redevelopment opportunities
Support policy alignment between local Industrial Development Agencies and the goals of One Region Forward and the WNY Regional Economic Development Council
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LOCAL STATE FEDERAL
STRATEGIES KEY:
4 | 2016 ADVOCACY AGENDA
Workforce DevelopmentJob creation efforts are moot if employers cannot find employees. Government, education and training entities, and employers must work together to build a qualified workforce with 21st century skills. To accomplish this, we need to invest in and support education and workforce development initiatives that adequately prepare workers to be career-ready, especially for occupations in targeted industry sectors with high and immediate demand. By 2022, those sectors alone are expected to create approximately 50,000 new jobs locally, but that figure does not tell the whole story. Buffalo Niagara has an aging population with many workers at or near retirement age - magnifying the significant needs in certain industries, specifically manufacturing, which faces workforce challenges now and in the future.
S T R A T E G I E S
Buffalo Niagara Job Market Snapshot: Manufacturing
Support Pell Grant funding and broaden program eligibility to reflect today’s job readiness needs, including:
Tool & Die Maker
AVERAGE STARTING SALARIES:
$44,374
Ensure Workforce Improvement & Opportunities Act (WIOA) implementation is employer focused to provide skills that align with local job opportunities
Employs 50,000 People
17,000 job vacancies by 2020RESUME
Industrial Engineer Technician
$43,840Engineering Technician
$39,221Machinist
$38,169Chemical Operator
$35,987Metal/Plastic Fabricator
$30,904
d Make short-term occupational
certificate programs eligible for grants
d Make demand-driven non-credit
programs eligible for grants
d Take advantage of industry sector
partners to ensure short-term and
non-credit programs are
meeting job market needs
d Encourage city and county leaders to appoint
employer representatives to local Workforce
Investment Boards (WIB)
d Target WIB resources for training programs
matching WNY Regional Economic Development
Council priorities and targeted industry sectors
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PASSED
Transportation & InfrastructureEconomic development does not happen without well-designed, well-maintained, and well-funded infrastructure. The safe and efficient movement of goods, services and people is at the core of our economy. Government at all levels must make infrastructure funding and transportation initiatives a priority, and commit to working with employers to identify areas of concern and opportunity.
S T R A T E G I E S
Support upgrades to New York’s aging power grid to improve reliability and ensure Buffalo Niagara’s economy benefits of moving locally produced electricity downstate
Implement border efficiency measures outlined in the Beyond the Border agreement to better move goods and people across Buffalo Niagara’s international border crossings, including:
96% of trucks could clear Customs in
under 15 mins.
Support a multiyear surface transportation bill that includes sustainable funding levels to fix and maintain our nation’s crumbling highways, roads and bridges
Develop New York’s natural gas transmission system to effectively move gas from Pennsylvania through New York and to other markets to improve reliability, keep consumer prices low, and spur investment
TRUCK WAIT TIME4 mins. 22 mins.
Require electronic filing of freight manifests
Require advance payment of bridge user fees
18 minutes saved
Congress passed and the President signed into law a $305 billion, five-year highway bill in December 2015.
*13
*During peak times
6 | 2016 ADVOCACY AGENDA LOCAL STATE FEDERAL
STRATEGIES KEY:
Push for WNY to receive its ‘fair share’ of transportation infrastructure funding by supporting the agenda of the Fair Apportionment of Infrastructure Revenue (FAIR) committee
WNY = DOT Region 5Receives less than 9% of statewide
DOT spending, but accounts for:
Funding levels must be increased to at least historic average of 10%.
Support the development of the South Buffalo Riverbend Infrastructure Master PlanThe plan should ensure the project area has adequate
infrastructure to support intense and anticipated
development, including:
• Reliable power grid
• Telecommunication services
• Accessible transportation
• Freight network
• Other utility infrastructure
REGIONAL PRIORITY PROJECTS
d Lewiston-Queenston Bridge Plaza improvements
d Accelerated completion of Cars Sharing Main Street
d Canalside/Cobblestone Transit Enhancements
d Transit Options Amherst-Buffalo
Establish sustainable funding mechanism dedicated to local street and public space infrastructure in downtown Buffalo
Bridges
Lane miles
STATE: LOCAL:
12%
12%
13%
10%SOUTH BUFFALO & RIVERBEND:
2015: 3,136,607 sq.ft.
2020: 5,961,563 sq.ft.
90% increasein Total Sq. Ft. of Development
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thepartnership.org
Please contact the Partnership’s Government Affairs team at [email protected]
to learn more about our Advocacy Agenda or to participate in our events and programs.
Please consider getting involved in the Buffalo Niagara Partnership’s advocacy efforts.Our message is stronger when employers join us to discuss these important issues with elected officials and demonstrate how the public sector can best work with the private sector for the benefit of all Buffalo Niagara.
CITATIONS:1 – “Higher Pay, Fewer Jobs – Employment and Earnings Effects of
Raising New York’s Minimum Wage to $12 and $15,” Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Ben Gitis, American Action Forum, November 2015
2, 3 – U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
4 – The Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) (in 2015 dollars, assuming 2% inflation)
5 – “2014 Oregon Workers’ Compensation Premium Rate Ranking Summary,” The Department of Consumer & Business Services, the State of Oregon, October 2014
6, 7, 9 – “The Costs of Labor Law 240 on New York’s Economy and Public Infrastructure,” Hattery, Geddes & Kay, Rockefeller Institute, 2013
8 – “Memo: Labor Law 240 and Loss Costs,” Richard Geddes, Cornell University, 2014
10, 11 – New York State Department of Labor
12 – Dream It, Do It Western New York
13 – “Pilot project for inspecting Peace Bridge trucks in Canada declared a success,” The Buffalo News, April 22, 2015
14 – Fair Apportionment of Infrastructure Revenue (FAIR) Committee
15 – “South Buffalo & Riverbend Area Infrastructure Needs Assessment,” Buffalo Niagara Partnership, National Grid & UB Regional Institute, August 2015