Taxpayers Rally in Albany to Warn Legislators: We are Watching

ROCHESTER, NY (02/09/2010)(readMedia)-- More than 100 upstate taxpayers and business owners traveled to Albany on Monday to express anger and frustration over the current state of New York's budget, tax structure and government dysfunction.

The Palace Theatre brought together citizens from all across upstate New York, including Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, Binghamton and the North Country. Delegations from each community plan to visit with their elected representatives and their staff members to deliver their individual messages.

The rally shed light on many of New York's bleak financial facts. Spending has increased from $75 billion to $131.8 billion since 2000, and though the 2010-11 budget proposal attempts to address the current deficit it doesn't go far enough. New York still faces an ever-growing deficit that could increase to more than $20.7 billion in three years.

Unshackle Upstate recently released its 2010 policy agenda, focusing on reducing state spending, taxes, and mandate relief. The Policy Agenda included $12 billion in suggested cuts for New York's 2010-11 budget. In addition, Unshackle Upstate has released a five-year plan to right-size the state budget to a more sustainable $109 billion by 2015. This initiative proposed returning the state budget to the level it was in 2000 - $77.5 billion, then adjusted for inflation based on the consumer price index.

"This is an important evening for the taxpayers of New York. We've had people from across the state join us to express their frustration with New York's outrageous tax-and-spend problem," said Brian Sampson, executive director for Unshackle Upstate. "New Yorkers understand that we cannot afford another decade of reckless spending, especially when state revenues have dropped by 36 percent since 2008. During these tough economic times, fiscal responsibly is not only common sense, but imperative to the livelihood of our state and our citizens."

"With the active participation of so many New Yorkers, incumbents in the state should be nervous," said Sandy Parker, president and CEO of Rochester Business Alliance and a founder of Unshackle Upstate. "People are struggling, and without dramatic changes in our political culture, people, private sector jobs and the wealth they create will be driven from the state and our abysmal situation will only continue to get worse."

"The business community wants lawmakers to wake up and listen to what their constituents are saying," said Andrew Rudnick, president and CEO of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership and a founder of Unshackle Upstate. "This is all about jobs, and the people in the Buffalo Niagara region and throughout New York who've lost them, can't find them or have moved away in search of them."

"The people here tonight are angry and ready to speak," said Mike Elmendorf, New York State director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). "We are demanding that our elected officials in Albany act now to bring down the crushing tax burden and cost of doing business to turn the economy around. Small business owners and taxpayers from across New York will be watching closely and will hold our leaders accountable come November."

"The taxpayers and businesses in Central New York have suffered for far too long from the high cost of taxes in the state," said Darlene Kerr, president of the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce. "They are demanding that state government cut spending, taxes, fees and assessments. The Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce as a partner of Unshackle Upstate is delivering that message and proposing solutions to the state's budget woes to the Governor and Legislature."

"Wyoming County is the number one dairy producing county in New York State, as well as the number one in potato production," said Laura Lane, president of the Wyoming County Chamber of Commerce. "We have world class, state of the art farms, but the proposed farm labor bill will result in burdensome cost to the agricultural industry. In addition to the effects on farms, numerous agricultural support businesses will fell the trickle down effects of this bill. We want our elected officials to think of the long term ramification of their actions."

"Unshackle Upstate has become not only the voice of upstate business," said Garry Douglas, president of the Plattsburg-North Country Chamber of Commerce. "But it is the voice of common sense; standing up for New York's job creators and taxpayers. We're in Albany again, calling for reform and change, and our voice is becoming louder and stronger every week as the coalition grows."

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Unshackle Upstate is a bi-partisan coalition representing more than 45,000 employers with more than one million workers in every region of upstate. The coalition's website, www.unshackleupstate.com, allows citizens to join the Unshackle Army and send messages to elected officials in Albany.

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