Press? We don”™t need no stinkin”™ press.
That seems to be the attitude of the governor”™s office in recent weeks as David Paterson holds closed-door meetings with business people trying to gain support for his deficit-reduction plan.
We”™re only accustomed to closed-door meetings when it comes to the state budget.
These recent endeavors are blatant slaps at the state”™s Open Meetings Law.
Last week, the governor met with business and nonprofit leaders behind closed doors at Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp. offices at Stewart International Airport.
The press was excluded from the meeting, according to spokeswoman Marissa Shorenstein, because it “was strictly for Governor Paterson to meet with the community to have an open and frank dialogue with business and economic leaders.”
Right, don”™t want to have those pesky media types with their cameras, tape recorders and notebooks hanging around.
A “frank dialogue” apparently means just for the hand-chosen.
C”™mon, guv, do you really think the business community likes what”™s going on in the state?
The payroll tax to bail out the MTA still has steam coming from the ears of small- business owners and officials in the Hudson Valley.
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This budget deficit plan is just proof of how you got steamrolled by the state Legislature.
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We wonder if anyone at the closed-door meeting brought up the word “insolvency.”
At this pace, it won”™t be long before the state goes belly up.
State Budget Director Robert Megna said, “Unless action is taken to address New York”™s current-year budget deficit, our state government is likely to face significant cash-flow difficulties beginning in December.”
It”™s been coming for a long time with spend and tax policies that have moved the state into the position of being anti-business.
New Yorkers, once known for their toughness and brashness and the ability to not back down are now bidding the Empire State adieu.
From 2000 to 2008, 1.5 million residents fled, according to a report released last week by the Empire Center for New York Policy. That”™s a lot of taxpayers to lose. And that exodus made New York No. 1 for the nation”™s largest loss of residents to other states.
In 2005 alone, a quarter-million residents left. Last year it slowed to only 126,000 leaving.
And where did they go? No surprise here ”“ Florida, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
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Westchester County lost 25,305 residents; Rockland lost 15,565; Putnam 217. New York City lost 1.1 million.
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The other counties in the Hudson Valley fared much better: Orange picked up 17,259; Dutchess 5,992; and Ulster 2,446.
In calculating the average incomes of those exiting, the study found that the state”™s annual income loss ranged from $3.9 billion in 2003 to $5.6 billion in 2005.
Those moving out had average incomes 13 percent higher than those moving in.
The high taxes are probably the only reasons for everyone fleeing. As we all can probably recite by rote, New York”™s state and local taxes per capita are the nation”™s highest.
With that in mind, the study”™s conclusion comes as no surprise: the local tax burden.
However, the authors of the report offer other factors.
“Downstate residents face high taxes and housing costs rated among the most ”˜severely unaffordable”™ in the world. Land-use regulations in downstate New York also tend to inhibit growth. In upstate New York, housing is relatively inexpensive but even more heavily taxed, and new economic opportunities have been scarce. ”¦ government policies should be aimed at slowing down and ultimately reversing the state”™s population drain.”
And despite the huge losses, the state”™s population has grown slightly with a large influx of immigrants. “But New York”™s share of U.S. population is still shrinking. A continuation of the domestic migration trends highlighted here will translate into slower economic growth and diminishing political influence in the future,” according to the report.
We know you can only do so much as governor. The culpability, moral and otherwise, lies with the state lawmakers.
We are doomed.
