Who:

Senator John J. Flanagan,
Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr.,
Senator Owen H. Johnson,   
Senator Kenneth P. LaValle,
Senator Carl L. Marcellino,   
Senator Jack Martins,            
Senator Lee M. Zeldin,
Richard Bivone (Nassau Chairman - Long Island Business Council),
Robert Fonti (Suffolk Chairman - Long Island Business Council),
Various Long Island Business Owners.

When:             Wednesday, August 17th 11am

Where:            Vacant Retail Storefront
                  277 Walt Whitman Road
                  Huntington Station, NY 11746

What:  In the two years since the MTA payroll tax was passed, businesses from Nassau and Suffolk counties have been forced to pay more than $474 million to the MTA via the MTA payroll tax.  This business-unfriendly tax has stifled Long Island's tepid job recovery. In 2010, an estimated 2,064 Long Island jobs were lost as a result of the MTA Payroll Tax.

 

Having successfully passed a bill to repeal the job-killing tax, New York State Senators from Long Island will join with local businesses urging The Assembly to take a final step toward repealing the tax.  Governor Cuomo has called the tax "onerous" and said that he is open to discussion on its repeal.

Why: In the 64 days since the Senate passed S.5596A, there has been no formal action in the Assembly to vote on the MTA Payroll Tax repeal.  The Assembly's bill (A.8193A) has been stalled in the Assembly's Ways and Means Committee since June 6th. As the Speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver can call for a vote on the bill at any time.

 Background:  In 2009, when Democrats controlled the Majority in the State Senate, the Legislature voted in favor of imposing the MTA Payroll Tax - 34 cents for every $100 of payroll imposed on every business in the MTA's twelve-county service region.  Proponents of the tax argued it was necessary to bail out the MTA, which operates at a deficit from year to year.  The vote was along strict party lines - every Democrat voted for it, every Republican against.