News from Assembly Minority Leader Brian M. Kolb
Assembly Office:
933 Legislative Office Building • Albany, NY 12248 • (518) 455-3751
District Offices:
607 West Washington Street • Suite 2 • Geneva, NY 14456 • (315) 781-2030
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For Release: IMMEDIATELY, December 14, 2012
Contact: Doug Finch (315) 781-2030
My Policy Priorities for the 2013 Legislative Session: Part II
Creating a "Natural Disaster Relief Fund," building New York's "innovation economy," making State government more accountable to taxpayers

Weekly column from Assembly Minority Leader Brian M. Kolb (R,C,I-Canandaigua)

Last week, I shared my public policy priorities for the coming 2013 Legislative Session. Those priorities included protecting taxpayers and local governments from Albany's unfunded mandates that drive up property taxes - and overburden local budgets - as well as enacting my "Thruway Authority Accountability Act," to fix this broken arm of State government.

This week's column focuses on remaining priorities, including my legislation to establish a "Natural Disaster Relief Fund," and initiatives to build New York's "innovation economy" to create the good-paying, high-tech jobs that will help keep our kids here.

"NYS Natural Disaster Relief Fund" will help victims of Hurricane Sandy

The human toll and financial costs of Hurricane Sandy are like nothing our state has ever seen. To help those caught in the hurricane's path, I proposed creating the "NYS Natural Disaster Relief Fund." My legislation allows individuals and businesses to contribute to a voluntary tax contribution check-off disaster relief fund modeled after other voluntary state check-off funds for breast cancer research and wildlife conservation.

My legislation also creates a formal mechanism allowing tax-deductible charitable donations to this Natural Disaster Relief Fund. Establishing a Natural Disaster Relief Fund is another way to ensure that families impacted by natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy have the financial resources for necessities such as food, clothing and shelter, while ensuring that our state is better protected from future storms.

Building New York's "innovation economy"

Without question, high-tech jobs - and high-tech industry - are the future of what I call New York's "innovation economy," that generates good-paying jobs and keeps our kids here. In order to fulfill New York's promise and potential as a high-tech leader, I introduced several initiatives to grow our innovation economy as part of my "GrowNY" agenda:

  • Innovators Corps: Develop the "Innovators Corps," a four-member division of business experts to identify, recruit and/or retain domestic and international high technology businesses;
  • Business Incubator Network: Establish a Business Incubator Network to support the development of academic linked business incubators and to accelerate the growth of early-stage companies;
  • High-Tech Worker-NY: Provide a Personal Income Tax exemption of up to $50,000 per year for the first five years for new high-tech employees who completed a high-tech training program within the past 12 months; and
  • Patent-NY: Implement a Personal Income Tax credit for patent fees to ensure NY remains home to the innovative breakthroughs our economy needs.

My goal: a better quality of life for all New Yorkers

My policy priority list for the 2013 Legislative Session is by no means exhaustive. Instead, it's just a start, representing the beginning of my yearlong efforts to advance real solutions that make State government more accountable and improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers.

What do you think? I want to hear from YOU! Send me your feedback, suggestions and ideas regarding this or any other issue facing New York State. You can always contact my district office at (315) 781-2030, or e-mail me at kolbb@assembly.state.ny.us.