Sure, why not lets raise our construction costs 57% hey while we’re at it lets make sure that all the construction companies require job training, oh, never mind our county legislature did that already. So if we combine this outrageous Bill passed in the Assembly and the apprenticeship law, we have or will have raised construction costs what to 75-80%?

I think it’s time to throw in the towel and get the hell out of here. Life is cheaper say in Tennessee? I’m ready to pack it in. Between the stupid Presidential election and the absolute lunacy that will continue in Albany at infinitum, I am about ready to raise the white flag and say good bye.

The Buffalo News: Opinion: Assembly wage bill prices New York out of competition

Some New York State legislators want to impose a 28 percent tax on businesses that want to invest in New York. As improbable as that sounds, that is exactly what would happen if legislation that was recently passed by the Assembly becomes law.

That legislation would require contractors of IDA-financed projects to, among other things, pay all construction workers union wages. For the Buffalo area, that would increase labor costs by 57 percent, and project costs by 28 percent.

To understand the true impact of this policy folly, the New York State Economic Development Council engaged the Center for Governmental Research to assess the impact of a prevailing wage requirement on the cost of construction in New York. The bottom line of the report is that this union wage requirement would increase labor construction costs for many projects in the Buffalo area by 57 percent.

The report compares construction labor costs in several regions in New York with labor costs in regions around the country with which we compete for economic development projects. These regions include Scranton, Pa.; Cleveland, Ohio; Providence, R.I.; Tampa; Indianapolis; and Austin, Texas.

The report concludes that without a union wage requirement, construction labor costs for upstate regions are 9 percent higher than competitor regions around the country. But adding union wages makes upstate regions 57 percent higher.

For downstate, the discrepancies are even greater. At market wages, construction labor costs downstate are 29 percent higher than comparison communities. At prevailing wages, construction labor costs downstate are 147 percent higher.

New York already has the second highest cost of doing business in the nation. And New York has the highest percapita state and local tax burden in the nation. When combined with New York’s already high cost of doing business, this union wage requirement would price upstate out of the game in the competition for many expansion and attraction projects.

The best way to increase construction wages is to increase competition for labor by improving New York’s business climate. By lowering overall employer costs, more businesses would invest in New York, thereby creating more jobs and higher wages for New York construction workers.

In case anyone is listening, New York’s upstate economy is not doing very well. It is difficult to understand how imposing a 30 percent tax on businesses that want to invest in our communities would help.

At a time when the nation’s economy is teetering on the brink of recession, we hope that Albany leaders will work together, make positive improvements to help economic development and not impose yet another self-inflicted wound on the upstate economy.

Brian McMahon is president of the New York State Economic Development Council.

var sc_project=1609654; var sc_invisible=0; var sc_partition=15; var sc_security=”26e26d49″;