If you want to see what transformative change looks like, just travel fourteen miles south of Binghamton to the Pennsylvania border. Several counties in the northern tier of PA are experiencing never-before-seen growth due to the emergence of the natural gas industry. Many of these communities, once in economic despair, are in the midst of [...]
One of the victims of the recent flooding in the Southern Tier is a company by the name of Synergy Solutions. Synergy recently announced that it is shutting its doors in Johnson City due to significant damage from Tropical Storm Lee. Synergy provides call center services for health care and business organizations and needs to [...]
If you want to see changes in New York state government, you have to take action. You have to vote on Nov. 2, Judgment Day for the New York State Legislature.
On Monday, Unshackle Upstate will issue the results of its 2010 Legislative Scorecards, ranking all 212 New York state legislators according to their actions on key economic and taxpayer issues.
As the New York legislature went home for the 4th of July holiday, Governor Chris Christie and the New Jersey legislature came close to a compromise on a proposal that will slow rising property taxes and reform what New Jersey residents have identified as their number one issue – property taxes.
Like New York, the Garden [...]
Can you hear us now Albany? This is the message that Unshackle Upstate and like-minded business coalitions are bringing to members of the Legislature as they head into the final weeks of session. Unshackle Upstate and its coalition partners will demand from Albany, a budget that reigns in spending, reduces taxes and moves New York [...]
There is no question that Governor Paterson and members of the Legislature are confronting very difficult decisions in trying to put together a budget that doesn’t further burden New Yorkers. But the pain of these decisions is largely self-inflicted and that is the problem.
For years, and across party lines, leaders have done their best to [...]
At its core, Unshackle Upstate is about finding solutions. Identify what the short-term needs are and back them up with sustainable, long-term reform. As the saying goes, “if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.” Through its policy agenda, Unshackle Upstate has supported wage freezes and payroll lags as [...]
Recently, a proposal aimed at relieving the pressure of “property tax fatigue” on local school districts and taxpayers was passed by members of the Senate. While recognition of the need for such a plan seems long overdue, any proposal that can offer real and sustainable property tax relief is a step in the right direction.
The proposal offers [...]
For years chambers of commerce have been able to offer health insurance coverage to our members at a much more affordable rate than they could buy independently. This has always been an important issue with our small business membership – the desire to provide good quality health insurance for their employees.
Yet what I hear virtually [...]
