Small businesses serve as the backbone of New York’s economy. The success of the millions of small businesses that make up our state has a direct impact on the state of our economy. Without successful and prosperous small businesses and increased opportunities for entrepreneurship the state’s economic situation will not improve and will continue to lag for years to come.
As budget negotiations reach a critical turning point with the deadline for enactment just days away, the focus of the talks has been education aid and health care spending. While both are imperative issues to the people of New York, providing tax relief and additional benefits to small business must be addressed in any enacted budget.
The facts are simple. Nearly 98 percent of all businesses in New York are small businesses. Fifty-two percent of working New Yorkers are employed by a small business. These facts show how imperative it is to establish a course of action that will foster a new business climate that will allow small businesses to thrive.
From the rising cost of health insurance and energy to a soaring tax burden, small businesses are finding the cost of doing business in New York is just not worth it. Many businesses have shut down operations or left for more affordable regions of our country.
In order to reduce the cost of doing business in New York and usher in a new era of prosperity and economic growth, my Assembly Minority colleagues and I have developed a comprehensive small business improvement plan in our “Road to Reform.” The plan includes tax relief, grants and new programs with the goal of helping current small businesses grow while providing a foundation for businesses in communities throughout New York.
The “Road to Reform” plan for small businesses includes:
- Establishing Business STAR that would provide basic STAR benefits on property owned by small businesses (100 or fewer employees) to reduce burdensome property taxes;
- Providing a Small Business Energy Tax Reduction;
- Providing education grants to business owners and employees for courses necessary for support and operation of emerging micro-enterprise businesses; and
- Reducing the cost of providing health insurance by supporting sole proprietorship healthcare deductions, a 100 percent deduction for medical and dental care, while creating a tax credit equal to 15 percent of the cost of health insurance premiums paid by small businesses for their employees.
As a member of the Economic Development Joint Budget Conference Committee, I will work in a bipartisan fashion throughout the budget process to build a meaningful plan that will change the course of the upstate economy and provide for increased opportunities and growth for all small businesses.