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State Leg. should rethink Its ‘taxing’ philosophy
By: Terry Gipson
New York State business owners recently received a notice from the State Department of Labor. Essentially it says that record high unemployment has forced the state to borrow $3 billion from the federal government so that it can continue to pay unemployment insurance.
As a result, New York now owes $95 million in interest to Uncle Sam and they need small business owners like me to help pay it back.
To do this, Albany has created a new tax, the “Interest Assessment Surcharge,” for us to pay, and it is being assessed on every employee that we have. If, and only if, Congress extends its interest-free loan provision will we receive a refund or credit for this money.
How much more proof do we need that our State Legislature is in desperate need of new ideas and new leadership? They have ignored the issue of job creation for so long that they now have to invent new ways of taxing employers that are already struggling to survive. Either they lack the creativity and vision to solve the problem or they just don’t care.
The reality is that our state government continues to be run by career politicians that have been in office since the ’70s and ’80s. They have lost touch with the needs of New York’s vast middle class. We need jobs and we need our state representatives to get serious about improving our economic climate. This means finding more ways to encourage new business development and creating new incentives that put New Yorkers back to work. It also means rethinking how we train and educate or workforce so that companies don’t have to look out of state for the experienced employees that they need.
These things must be done and we clearly need new leadership in Albany to get them done.
Terry Gipson
Rhinebeck
Candidate NY State Senate 2012