So, for the past 3 months, what has been going on? What are we still waiting for? What state are we in?  Let’s take a look at the good, the bad and the UGLY!

The Good

• The Governor has stated publicly to support no borrowing in the budget plan
• UU social media campaign experienced record growth to over 19,000 fans – indicative of significant voter dismay.
• UU developed and pushed $12 billion in acceptable, recurring spending cuts
• 2 dozen business groups traveled to Albany to opposition against Dirty Dozen
• Unshackle Upstate has submitted a REAL property tax cap legislation similar to Massachusetts Proposition 2.5

The Bad

• Governor – had to issue a drop dead date for the budget (not necessarily a good one) to be passed by June 28^th
• Upstate NY continues to be the home of the 10 highest taxed counties in the country as percentage of home value.
• Legislators have yet to enact the $12 billion dollar proposed budget cuts
• NY’s Medicaid budget stays greater than the entire budget of more than 43 states.
• A property tax cap has still not been put in place to offer ALL residents of NY some tax relief
• The Senate passed the prevailing wage mandate for service workers which will extend wage mandate requirements to private businesses with a focus on energy companies (more taxes for us!)

The UGLY

• The budget has YET to be passed (Are we even shocked?)
• Paterson’s budget proposal includes $2 billion added to the budget, $1.4 billion in new taxes
• Spending levels would increase about 4% over the current budget
• Legislators want to control growth instead of cutting spending… (Hello! It’s still growing!)

What does all of this mean?

It means you’ve got to speak up, you’ve got to get your voice heard…and you have 137 days left to make it happen!  Send a letter, send an e-mail, make a phone call and tell your legislator that you are not happy! http://bit.ly/8ZFjCp

The Judgment Day Scorecard (click here for sample) will be frequently updated to provide New Yorkers with information on how each of the 212 legislators vote on various pro-taxpayer and job creator legislation, as well as on this year’s state budget. So by the time November 2, 2010 rolls around…you’ll know exactly what to do!

Judgment Day is coming…let them know that we’re watching!

As we shared with you this week, Upstate NY is home not to just nine, but now the 10 highest-taxed counties in the country as a percentage of home value. What does that mean? Those of us in Upstate NY now pay more in taxes for the same priced home than most of the rest of the country. Isn’t that a great distinction to have?

People wonder why are our taxes so much higher? We don’t have enough time to cover all of the reasons, but here are a few:
• Education: we pay more per capita than any other state, yet our results are not commensurate.
• Medicaid: at roughly $51 billion, NY’s Medicaid budget is larger than the entire budget of more than 40 states.
• Labor: NY has far too many public employees who have an expensive pension system supported by taxpayers.

The three areas listed above account for roughly 66 percent of state-controlled spending. And they all deal with people and services. So the concept of cutting into those services makes some elected officials very nervous. That often leads to other “solutions” that entail giving something back to taxpayers, while failing to fix the real core issue of what is driving up our taxes.

In this instance, the property tax “reform” that is holding up the budget in the Senate is a rebate program they propose to give to a very small segment of the population. Not one that is given to all of us…just a few of us. And that simply won’t work for us. We need concrete changes to alter the course of property tax rate increases.

Unshackle Upstate has advanced a bill that will do just that. We have presented a plan that will not only make our property taxes predictable, but will also lead to long-term reductions in spending, and thus a decrease in our property tax burden.

What is the plan? It includes:
• An annual property tax cap that will not exceed 2.5 percent.
• An annual school tax cap that will not exceed 2.5 percent.
• Mandate relief so the state cannot adopt new laws that pass cost down to local governments and schools.
• The ability for voters to override the cap for one year to allow special projects, emergency needs, etc.
• An underride provision that will allow voters to offer a cap lower than 2.5 percent.

The plan mirrors one that was passed in Massachusetts several years ago. And what happened in Massachusetts? The state we used to call Taxachusetts? They went from 3rd to 33rd in property taxes and it did not affect their school performance, with their students scoring well on national tests.

Better options exist then simply applying a Band-Aid to the gaping wound of property taxes. It is time for our elected officials to look at what other state governments have done to fix their ills.

We need real leadership on this issue. Who will come to rescue?

The increasing interactions on Facebook is simply inspiring. We’ve been reading and responding to your posts and one thing is clear – you’re fired up about our government’s shameful ways. And rightfully so. Families and businesses are being crushed with sky high taxes while state leaders continue to spend money they simply don’t have. That’s what why we launched our Judgment Day campaign in February.   Rather than endlessly screaming about what is wrong in Albany, we’re actually doing something about it!

Unshackle Upstate is currently fighting against the following 2010-11 budgetary provisions:

• 2010-11 Executive Budget (Spending) – the 2010-11 state budget proposal is $134 billion; that’s an increase of 12 percent in two years.
• The 3-percent severance tax on natural gas from Marcellus or Utica Shale. (S6610 / A9710 – Part A).
• Establishment of a circuit breaker tax credit and a state spending cap, versus a property tax cap, at 2.5 percent. (S6610 /A9710 – Part Q).
• Forcing non-union home-based childcare providers to pay union dues. (S.6607/A.9707 – Part DD).
• Proposed Increase in Local Utility Taxes (GRT) (S6606/A9706 – Part HH).
• Excessive health care taxes, fees and assessments (S.6608/A.9708 – Part B, C, D).
• Continuation of the Waste Tire Management Fee, which was scheduled to sunset on December 31, 2010. (S6609 / A9709 – Part DD).

We also support the reduction of overall state spending and the repeal of onerous budget provisions enacted last year such as:

• A license plate fee increase of $10.
• The utility surcharge (Section 18) which raised fees from one-third of a percent to two percent for most taxpayers.

Unshackle Upstate is  putting legislators on notice that these are the items in the budget that we oppose.  Any legislator that votes for a budget with these items will be judged accordingly through the Judgment Day Scorecard.  We’re advocating at the Capitol for the immediate removal of these anti-taxpayer items.  Our hope is that these Judgment Day Scorecards will serve as a invaluable tool when it comes time for you to cast your ballot in November. That’s what the Judgment Day campaign is all about – educating and empowering voters across New York to make the best decision  possible on November 2.

But our work is not done. We need the Unshackle Army to continue to grow and we need your help to make it happen. Please continue to tell your friends, families and coworkers about our efforts. Our impact in the halls of the Capital grows with every new voice we have on our side. We’re very thankful for your continued support – without it, none of this would be possible.

Judgment Day is less than seven months away!  Let’s keep this amazing momentum going and fight for change in Albany!

While this has been done before it had never been more blatant. And as a group that represents taxpayers in New York, we were offended by the letter and the implications.

Yet we also knew it would happen and we’d have to work that much harder to make sure our message of spending cuts and reducing the tax burden – yes, a fiscally conservative view – was heard.

So we asked for your help. We asked you to help us raise $50,000 in 50 days.

Some of you stepped right up and sent in your support. For instance, Frank wrote, “…nothing is going to be done without money. That is just a fact of life. Pony up. Put your money where your mouth is. MEDIA alone costs money. If these guys reduce your tax burden by $200 next year and you chipped in $100 you have $100 profit. A bunch of windbags are not going to make any difference here. Proof? Albany is full of windbags… where did that get you? Yada Yada Yada alone ain’t gonna do it.”

Others were honest and said they didn’t have the money, but would be able to help in other ways. Mark said, “Hey guys, I know how bad things are here too. I’m retired and just barely make it myself. I became a fan of Unshackle Upstate, and posted it to get the word out about them. From some of the comments, I feel like I’M the one asking you to go without food. We don’t have to short ourselves to help. We can pass the word, or check with them about volunteering if we have some free time when we’re not trying to make more money. The thing we ALL agree on is that we need to do some serious changing of our representatives.”

Finally, at least one person wanted to know how we were going to use the money. The answer: We will use it in many ways. Your contributions will go toward our on-going multimedia work to educate taxpayers about their government and why it needs to be changed. It will be spent on growing our Unshackle Army on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and others. And it will help us create documents such as our Scorecard on each elected official, a legislative profile on our upstate representatives, and posters on the website that people can download and put up in their break rooms, on community boards and other public locations.

Here is the reality. If you have the means to contribute financially, please do by clicking here.  We need each and every dollar we can raise to beat back the message of those who want more for themselves and say to hell with the rest of us.

We will continue to find ways to do more with less. Yet the reality is that we need to fight this battle in the court of public opinion and that means mainstream media, which we all know isn’t free. And if we don’t or can’t invest in a good, strong battle, you can bet we are going to get more of the same fromr our state government – unsustainable spending and a tax burden that strangles us.

If you have the means to contribute financially, please do so by clicking here. Some can give more, but every $5, $10 or $20 contribution means a great deal.

But if you can’t give now, that’s OK. You can help us by spreading the message of Unshackle Upstate: We need our elected officials to start representing us, the taxpayers and private sector job creators.

Tell your friends and family to get off the couch and get in the game. Give them the links to our website (www.unshackleupstate.com), tell them to look for us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/unshackleupstate). It is going to take all of us to get this state turned around. But collectively, we can’t be denied.

I’ll close with one of my favorite quotes. It is the essence of Unshackle Upstate:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”
– Margaret Mead

The good news is that there’s opportunity to rewrite that tune and give new lyrics to the song “NY State of Repair.”   We do this by getting involved.    It will take interested and active citizens to drive the discussion and changes necessary to repair our great state.   What do we mean by “repair”?  It’s ensuring our representatives are accountable to the citizens of NYS to drive economic improvement to the State:  lower unemployment, a business climate that supports entrepreneurial activities, lower taxes for all NYS residents to improve their quality of life, a vibrant educational environment, and a State government with integrity and ethics that is responsive to it’s citizens.

What can you do to help rewrite the “lyrics” and move NY state from “disarray” to “repair”?

-       Get involved!  Join http://www.unshackleupstate.com/

-       Follow your State Legislators votes http://www.votesmart.org

-       Write/Call your State Legislators – demand accountability

-       Support Candidates who will change NY – this can be time and/or financial support.

-       Leverage Social media to follow your Interests: Facebook and Twitter are two social media vehicles that allow you to engage and follow your interests.

-       Finally, make your voice heard!  Contribute content to social media sites that express your interests and your ideas for change.   Did you know that user participation on the web follows a 90-9-1 rule?  90% of users are “lurkers” (i.e. read or observe), 9% of users contribute from time to time, and  1% of users participate a lot and account for most contributions.

But, given the events of yesterday and the question we posed to our Facebook fans, I wanted to wait.  I wanted to see the ideas you have to fix our state government.  The good news for us, we all tend to agree with each other.

For instance, you write about getting rid of the rich benefits for state employees.  We are not opposed to them getting benefits, they should.  But right now those benefits are more than 68% higher than in the private sector.   That is why we have proposed changing two state laws: Taylor and the Triborough Amendment, to eliminate the advantage public employees have over our municipal government.  We need to free up our town and city leaders, and our school boards, and allow them to negotiate affordable wages and benefits.

You also think that elected officials should be treated just like you and me.  Just because you hold office doesn’t mean that you are entitled to a better retirement option.  We agree.  That is why we are going to help Assemblyman Fitzpatrick from Long Island advance his bill to get all elected officials and non-civil service jobs out of the current defined benefit plan (guaranteed by our taxes) and into a 401K plan… just like the one you and I get from our employers.  If they are truly committed to being like us, then they should easily sign onto this bill and take the same risks we do in the market.  Not only will it save the state millions, it will help eliminate career politicians that move from one job to another just to get their 20 years in and better pension.

But what I read that I really liked more than any of the postings on our Facebook page came from Frank Maston.  Frank pointed out that unless we vote, things won’t change.  I couldn’t agree with Frank more…unless each and every one of us gets out there and votes for the right people, it won’t matter how much we talk about the problems and offer solutions.  So it is up to each and every one of us to not only vote ourselves, but encourage everyone we know to do the same thing.  The money we will raise is needed and helps us swing a pretty big stick.

But on November 2… Judgment Day for them and for us… it is the vote carries the power.  Do we have the courage to do what is right and take back our state?  I believe we do!

Given the calls for “change”,  let us also remember NY State has very significant challenges:  minimal turnover in representation leading to long careers for our representatives, negative views of the legislature,  low popularity and support for Governor Paterson, private sector exit from the State, and a 2010 $8.2 billion State budget deficit.

When we hear about “change”, is it  change in how government allocates resources? Is it the size of government that should change?  or, is it, more fundamental in terms of how government should view itself with regard to the citizens it represents?  Is there a general consensus on what change would look like?

My own sense is that there needs to be fundamental change in NYS spending. How it allocates resources and the level of spending citizens are willing to commit to.   Given there has been approximately a 20% reduction in wealth for the average household in the US over the last several years given the financial crisis,  why not suggest a 20% reduction in overall spending from the NY state budget?

Moreover, with commitments to shrinking State spending, we create an environment more supportive for business and more tax friendly for NYS residents.   Also, how about change in how we view and interact with our representation in this state?   Our representatives have little worry with regard to change due to low turnover in the State Legislature (less than 15%), no term limits and district lines drawn to favor long tenures in the State Capital.   More active grass roots campaigns (such as the Unshackle Army) and highlighting representation through social media channels (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) can give citizens more exposure to their representation to engage more dialog and debate on the issues.  Certainly, change that could be felt by our State representatives.

Regardless of your own assumptions on “Change” in NYS, a more active and passionate electorate that holds our representatives accountable and ensures the wishes of the citizens of the state will certainly be a catalyst for change that we can, hopefully, believe in for NYS.  The time is right and here’s your chance in 2010 to get involved to get the right level of change you believe is necessary for NYS!

Larry is an Unshackle Army member and active Facebook fan, who will be guest blogging for Unshackle Upstate. If you are interested in becoming a guest blogger, visit http://unshackleupstate.com/army and fill out the form.

Unshackle Upstate doesn’t work on behalf of ourselves  as an organization, or our own thoughts and ideals, but rather is about listening to and echoing the thoughts and concerns of YOU, the taxpayer. So I wanted to personally respond to some of the comments I’ve been seeing from all of you on the Unshackle Upstate Facebook page. I’ve noticed that a lot of people are echoing others in their concerns, so I’ve picked out a few comments to respond to, based on topics that come up over and over again on our page, and some specific things that have happened this week. I’m responding to a few key issues today, and I’ll do this again from time to time.

“NYS Government has to reduce the workforce. There are way too many people on the payroll. In these troubled times we all have to do more with less.” – Gary M Baker; Facebook

Clearly, the leadership of this state is not listening.  We continue to talk about ways to lower state spending and the burden it places on all of us.  Yet this week we hear that the Governor is proposing that day care providers be forced to join the United Federation of Teachers.  No disrespect to the workers, but come on.  The only thing this will do is run up the cost of daycare for private pay and drive up the reimbursement rate within the social service programs.  So on one hand we won’t be able to afford the increase and on the other our taxes will go up to cover Medicaid rates.  That’s not leadership, that’s pandering.  And any elected official that supports that component of the Governor’s proposed budget doesn’t deserve our support.

“Oh Yeah… Let’s start the new fiscal year with a fresh round of additional debt for our grandchildren. Absolutely no mention of seriously attacking the poor management practices that led to the massive shortfall.”- David Hammond; Facebook

If it isn’t taxes and health insurance that drives us over the edge, it is energy.  So now we have a great chance to actually lower our rates for natural gas…oh, and create hundreds of jobs…yet once again that won’t happen.  Why?  Because the state can’t agree on regulations related to hydro fracture drilling (a proven technique used in PA).  So the gas sits in the ground while we contemplate what to do.  But even if we got that figured out, in the budget there is a new Severance Tax.  That is a tax applied to “severing gas from the ground” making it more costly to extract the gas.  So let’s be clear…we can’t agree on how to get the gas out of the ground and yet we are going to tax an industry before it even develops.  Great planning there.

“How about eliminating state pensions for all elected officials…it might encourage more citizen legislators and turnover in state office holders. Financial term limits.” – Bruce Anderson; Facebook

How can we reduce pension issues and at the same time get our elected to work harder for us?  Well, there might be a way to do that.  Assemblyman Mike Fitzpatrick has introduced a bill to change an elected officials pension from being a defined benefit, or DB plan (one that is backed by you, the taxpayer) to a defined contribution plan, or DC (like the 401K the private sector uses).  Not a bad idea.  That way we at least eliminate the potential for a Conflict of Interest when dealing with the pension system and our ability to get it lowered.  In fact, we pushed for a DC plan like they have at SUNY/CUNY to be in the recently passed Tier 5.  Perhaps Unshackle Upstate will have to push this bill a bit harder.

The webinar and news conference, provided information on the issues, as well as an interactive demonstrated of the site’s functionality. Created to provide taxpayers and employers with immediate and timely information on important legislative and policy issues, the site also empowers New Yorker’s to make informed choices in next year’s statewide elections.

For more information, and to visit the new home base platform for Unshackle Upstate, visit: (www.facebook.com/unshackleupstate), which also is accessible from http://www.unshackleupstate.com/.

Unshackle Upstate, will host an interactive webinar news conference on December 15, 2009 at 3pm EST.  The news conference will provide the media, and the public an overview of the Unshackle Upstate campaign, as well as discuss their budgetary and fiscal concerns regarding spending in New York State.

The new platform, the first of its kind in New York, incorporates: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, the Unshackle Upstate website and other platforms.  The launch of the Unshackle’s social media networking will enable New York’s taxpayers and employers greater access to their elected officials, at the same time holding them accountable for the dysfunction within state government.

For more information and to register for the upcoming webinar, visit: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/278782992