What it is
Released Nov. 18 by leaders of the Rochester Business Alliance, New York State Economic Survival Guide - Ten Essential Reforms We Can't Live Without, is a 16-page document created to identify top priorities for immediate action by state leaders in 2011.

Why New York's economic survival is at stake
Rising taxes and the cost of government are making it harder to succeed in New York than other states. Here are some standout statistics from the Survival Guide:

• Jobs and population loss - Even though New York gained almost 272,000 jobs over 15 years from businesses moving in, 392,000 jobs moved to other states - a net loss of 120,000 jobs from 1993 to 2008. It's the third-largest outmigration of jobs in the United States. Over the past decade, 1.7 million people have moved to other states, the highest population loss in the nation.
• Taxpayer burden - The average state and local tax burden for New Yorkers is $6,419 per person - second in the nation. The United States average is $4,283. When property taxes are measured as a percentage of home value, New York is home to nine of the nation's 10 most heavily taxed counties.
• Medicaid - New York spends more money on Medicaid than any other state. State spending for Medicaid long-term care was $1,058 per resident in 2008, compared to a national average of $378.
• Public employee compensation
• Statewide, excluding New York City, salaries for state and local government employees are 15 percent higher than the private-sector average.
• Retirement benefits, health insurance contributions and paid time off all far exceed private-sector averages.
• State debt - Over the past five years, state debt has risen 25 percent. In 2009-2010, the state debt amounted to $3,100 per person and 6.4 percent of personal income.
• Size of government - An attorney general's survey showed that New York has more than 1,000 state government entities. At the local level, taxpayers fund an additional 10,500 government entities, with many layers of overlapping services and functions.
  

Excerpts from the report
Need for action - "Without a major change in fiscal policies - starting with the 2011 budget process - taxing and borrowing will continue to go up, while jobs and population continue to flow out. As other states grow slowly out of the recession, New York may not recover." (page 3)
Taxpayer burden - "Like any healthy diet after a binge of overeating, the caps will cause discomfort. But they will force honest discussions about what services people really need, and which ones we simply can't afford." (page 4)
Unfunded mandates - "The issue is not that every single mandate should be paid for in the state budget. It's that the cost of laws and regulations must be analyzed up front." (page 5)
Public employee compensation - "As our chief negotiator, Governor-elect Cuomo should strike a hard line in 2011. Our state is an employer facing a financial crisis, and we cannot afford a compensation system that rewards public employees at standards far above the public sector." (page 6)
Medicaid - "New York can no longer afford the nation's richest Medicaid program, but we don't need a hatchet to fix it. By trimming excessive benefits to more closely match national norms, the state can save billions of dollars." (page 7)
A new direction - "State leaders must change business as usual from the day they take office, focusing on the priorities laid out in this report. All these steps can be implemented, with determination and effort. Many of them involve just saying no: No to new taxes. No to new spending on programs we can't afford. No to increased costs on employers." (page 15)

Distribution of the report
The Rochester Business Alliance will share 7the Survival Guide with Gov.-elect Cuomo and members of his team, New York state legislators, and business leaders across upstate New York.

Next steps
Leaders of the Rochester Business Alliance will continue to monitor and report on the progress of the issues outlined in the report, and will build grassroots support in a continuing campaign to ensure that meaningful action is taken.