Newly installed New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced this week that she was expanding the eligibility to the state $800 million small business recovery grant program to allow businesses with 2019 revenues up to $2.5 million to qualify for the grant program. The Pandemic Business Recovery Initiative, which was initiated under former Governor Andrew Cuomo,…
Read More »It would appear that Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio are finally prepared to let New York City open – to some extent. Wednesday, NYC restaurants were allowed to open indoor dining to 25 percent of capacity. That said, there are plenty of new regulations they must perform to comply with the city…
Read More »New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday signed into law legislation that expands protections against sexual harassment by eliminating the longtime legal standard of “severe and pervasive”. Historically, under the old legal standard, discriminatory or retaliatory harassment had the burden of proving that the alleged harassment was “severe and pervasive”, whereas now, harassment need only…
Read More »Although his final decision should not have been in doubt, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo used the occasion of the USA Women’s World Cup Champions ticker tape parade to sign legislation mandating equal pay for substantially similar work and prohibiting pay differences based on an individual’s age, race, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, domestic…
Read More »At the New York state level, the news was more favorable of late as Governor Andrew Cuomo vetoed a bill expanding the state paid leave mandates. The expansion, which was passed by the legislature back in the summer, would have expanded the availability of employee paid family leave to include bereavement for family members. Back…
Read More »The CATO Institute this week released a report ranking which states were the most free and least free in the nation. Ironically, New York, the state governed by the aforementioned Andrew Cuomo (he of the America “never was that great” quote) was rated the “least free” of the 50 states in the nation! At the…
Read More »Earlier this week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags. Cuomo, who is facing a democratic primary challenge from left-wing actress Cynthia Nixon and pressure from the Green Party on environmental issues, said the ban would apply to all single-use, plastic carryout bags at any point of sale in…
Read More »OK, he may not have actually killed it, but declaring it DOA in Albany is about as close to terminal as it gets. A few weeks back, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio endorsed the idea of increasing the city income tax on an individual making more than $500,000 ($1 million for couples) by…
Read More »He may not have named it that, but New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was pretty clear that policing employer payrolls will be a primary goal of his new 200 member enforcement force. This week, the governor announced the creation of the Minimum Wage Enforcement and Outreach Unit, a new state agency that will be comprised…
Read More »The New York Appellate court has upheld the decision of the New York Industrial Board of Appeals that the $15/hour minimum wage mandated for fast food workers. The minimum was set by a 3 person Wage Board appointed (without any restaurant interest representatives) by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo specifically to implement the increase on…
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