BY KATHY KAHN
The Rockland Business Association (www.rocklandbusiness.org), nearly 1,000 members strong, will be celebrating its 50th anniversary next year.
But preparations for its milestone are on the back burner as President/CEO Al Samuels focuses on bringing business and state funding to Rockland. Another goal would be to see the divisiveness between the Hasidic community and larger secular community to move forward in a a non-hostile, positive manner, he said.
โThe RBA, during its nearly 50 years, has brought many accomplishments to the county,โ said Samuels. โWe created the Industrial Development Agencyโwe fought to get into the Empire Zone—and we were among the first to confront Albany on replacing the Tappan Zee Bridge. That began when Pataki was governor, and thanks to Gov. Cuomo, weโre seeing it come to life before our eyes.โ
Rockland faces many serious problems, including the proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. For Rockland and many parts of this state, a $15 an hour minimum wage will rock small business to the core and put many struggling small businesses, family farms and not-for-profit service providers out of business.
The RBA is a founding member the Minimum Wage Reality Check Coalition of 37 organizations (www.minimumwagerealitycheck.com) , which is gaining traction across the state. โDonโt kid yourself,โ said Samuels.โ The reality is many businesses will be forced to reduce staff and employeesโ hours, as well as forcing them to put a freeze on any plans to add staff or expand operations.โ
Samuels said NYS Dept. of Labor reviews indicate raising the minimum wage will cost business $15.7 billion annually. The Manhattan Institute (www.manhattan-institute.org) has also published studies showing New York would lose a minimum of 200,000 jobs if the $15 minimum wage becomes a reality.
In 2012, the RBA commissioned Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress to make a all-encompassing assessment of the countyโs financial stability. โWe forced the county to take a serious look at the findings and use it,โ said Samuels. โIt has disbanded the County Pharmacy, which was costing residents nearly $2 million a year. An LDC was created to sell Summit Park, but that did not work out, so the county closed it at the end of 2015. Summit Park was the largest single contributing factor to the countyโs deficit. Its closure is saving us millions of dollars a year. Other consolidations and cuts have been made to bring up the countyโs credit worthiness, but more must be done.โ
A new White Paper is being prepared by Pattern is expected to be released in Spring, 2016, focusing on why Rockland is second the second highest taxed county in the U.S. โIt will be a benefit to every person in the county,โ said the RBA President.
Samuels would like to see New York State hold a Constitutional Convention. โWe are permitted to have one every 20 years,โ he said. โWe didnโt do it in 1997 but we have another opportunity in 2017. (www.changeNYS.org) Itโs time look at re-think โhome ruleโ an appropriate process for the state, term limits, and โfusion voting,โ among other issues.โ
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