by Marc Butler (R-Newport), New York State Assembly
Do you ever find yourself wondering what happened to New York’s accessible and good-paying jobs in manufacturing and small enterprise?
It’s almost as though the center of our middle-income economy fell out from underneath us, which has put a troubling strain on the upstate economy.
All those jobs, the positive economic normalcy that existed upstate, have been overcrowded by New York’s large and costly government.
With New York’s unfathomably big and complicated government came all the regulations, taxes and waste that have made our once economically competitive and prosperous Empire State one of the costliest and most difficult states in which to conduct business.
As Albany and its agencies grew, manufacturers packed up and left for southern states.
As Albany came up with yet another rule to follow, small town main street stores closed their doors.
New York’s best opportunities for middle-class jobs and mobility were shut out by big government.
New York is rife with jobs on the low and high ends of the income spectrum that are either out of reach or are not enough to make ends meet for most residents.
New York’s downstate political class’s continually misguided efforts to regulate and control quality of life have, in fact, been what has made conditions for prosperity for the poor and the working class worse.
Every excessive and unnecessary unfunded mandate on local government from Albany meant that local spending rose and property taxes ballooned to the point where they pushed out our families, farmers, manufacturers and small businesses.
Repairing this great economic divide left by the middle-class job fall out requires a serious effort to reform how New York operates.
This means expediting mandate, regulation and tax relief.
The middle-income sector has always had the tools for success and growth, New York just has to step back and give the innovators and employers the room they need to do what they do best-grow and create jobs.
As ranking minority member of the Economic Development, Job Creation, Commerce and Industry Committee in the Assembly, I’d like to further explore this concept.
I invite our local small businesses and manufacturers to please contact me.
Let me know what you feel stands in your way of success and being a job creator in New York State.
Email your ideas to butlerm@assembly.state.ny.us. Feel free to call me at my Herkimer office at (315) 866-1632.
