Greater Rochester Chamber urges pragmatic approach to NY state budget

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New York State is facing another contentious budget this year as legislators negotiate future plans for businesses and families across New York State – one of the most important times in Albany. What plays out during these final negotiations between now and the end of session in June will outline the state’s priorities for the year ahead. This year, as we navigate an ongoing affordability crisis and widespread uncertainty, I urge our legislators to be pragmatic and practical in these final negotiations, prioritizing the issues that matter to all New Yorkers, rather than just the loudest New Yorkers.

At Greater Rochester Chamber, we’ve heard from our members that energy availability and reliability, increasingly high costs across all sectors, and the onerous regulatory climate are the issues weighing most heavily on the communities we serve. Every single business and family across our state will face real consequences based on the results of these negotiations.

These are not new issues. The topic of energy has been a hot topic across our state for years as our infrastructure ages and additional regulations are passed. We appreciate the efforts that Governor Hochul is taking to address these issues, including pushing back the clearly unattainable and punitive timelines set in the 2019 CLCPA and adopting an all-of-the-above approach to energy generation that utilizes natural gas, hydroelectric, nuclear, solar, and wind. These policy reforms can take the pressure off of hard-working families and businesses in NYS while still ensuring we are moving in the right direction. Our climate doesn’t stop at the NYS border, and we can’t penalize New Yorkers in ways our neighboring states do not and expect them to stay here.

Costs continue to rise across all areas of our lives. Any areas that New York State can find to lower costs in are critical. One main focus of this year’s budget is insurance costs, driven up by break-ins, fraudulent trials, and bureaucracy. When families are priced out of car ownership due to insurance costs, they are kept out of the workforce and kept in cycles of poverty. On the business side, the same issues and login can be applied to New York’s Scaffold Law – an antiquated law that punishes businesses and can be weaponized to scam corporations out of money.

Scaffold Law and CLCPA are far from the only regulations that New York State needs to re-examine. A recent study funded by the Business Council of New York State, Greater Rochester Chamber, and a coalition of other partners examined all of the burdensome requirements in our state and created a Blueprint for New York – a roadmap for policymakers, and to use to fix the issues happening in our state. While these issues go back many years, today’s leaders can address them. From the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) to unique tax policies decoupled from federal standards, there are a multitude of issues New York State can and must address to stop the outmigration. Ensuring the systems works for today’s needs is critical to attracting people and businesses rather than pushing them out. SEQRA has not been updated in 50 years, and yet its reform is still facing opposition – which just doesn’t make sense.

When any of these topics are brought up in conversation, people tend to point fingers and find somebody to place blame on. Utility companies, insurance companies, advocacy organizations, and groups across the aisle often find themselves in the crosshairs as scapegoats. Instead, I urge leaders to listen, learn, and reflect. In my experience, the best way to support residents is to listen to them. In my time as Mayor of Rochester, I prioritized connecting with communities in every neighborhood of the city to help shape our budget based on the actual concerns of our residents. If this exercise were to be repeated across New York State with in-person meetings with our citizens, I think that we would find that these are their key priorities and the issues that need to be addressed. Not pet projects, not special interest groups, but real issues that impact everyday people.

Between now and the end of session in June, New York State has the opportunity to address the crisis we’re facing and the challenges that we have been living with for so long. To borrow a quote from one of Rochester’s greatest leaders and truest success stories, as Danny Wegman would say, now is the time to ‘focus and finish.’

Robert J. Duffy is president and CEO of Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce. Contact him at [email protected].