NEW YORK'S AGENDA

This is the second of two editorials on state and regionalpriorities for the coming session of the New York State Legislature.

Next week, a new State Legislature begins its work. In additionto the items we discussed Thursday, here are other priorities thatlawmakers, especially the Western New York legislators, have toaddress.

Taxes and regulations

Under Gov. George E. Pataki, the state has made commendableprogress in the crucial task of lowering the state's nation-leadingtax burden, one of the villains in this region's economic decline.More needs to be done, particularly in the state's impact on localand school taxes and on the subject of workers' compensation rates,which remain significantly higher than other states', despite actionduring Pataki's first term.

Of particular importance to this region is a plan to lower thetaxes levied on railroads. Those taxes are vastly - and maybeillegally - higher in New York than in other states. The railroads'Erie County tax bill alone is higher than the entire bill in atleast eight other individual states.

Albany needs to act on this for two reasons: Without relief,railroads will not invest in New York. Erie County is heavily tiedto the rail industry, and new investment is critical to our economicdevelopment. Even more to the point, the railroads will either winthis relief in Albany or in the courts. Handled politically, thestate can soften the blow on localities and school districts, whichwill lose revenue. If the issue is resolved by a judge, thoseentities will be hung out to dry.

Environment

Buffalo's economic revival depends to a large extent onbrownfield legislation that will allow cost-effective remediation ofcontaminated industrial sites so they can be marketed to newemployers.

Western New York recently won a federal designation that bringsmoney and expertise to the job of reclaiming the region's manybrownfields, but the state needs to act on issues such as liabilitylimits and land-use standards.

Those issues fall under the state's Superfund program, which isbroke. Albany needs to take comprehensive action on recharging thefund and setting brownfield policy that will allow those areas, manyof them in Western New York, to attract new industry.

IDA consolidation

With growing enthusiasm for regionalism in Western New York,Albany needs to clear the way for consolidation of this county's sixindustrial development agencies, whose numbers not only complicatematters for potential employers, but which too often work at crosspurposes.

Enthusiasm for consolidation among the IDAs is uneven, but itcan't happen at all without authorizing legislation from Albany. TheWestern New York delegation needs to push for such a law, which willnot only allow that necessary action, but will help pressureholdouts like Amherst to sign on.

Redistricting

The Legislature will have to organize the post-census task ofredistricting state and federal legislative districts in the comingyear in order to have them in place for the 2002 elections.

Redistricting is typically rife with political chicanery as theparties try to draw districts whose purpose is to amass politicalpower rather than to ensure fair representation. That is unlikely tochange in any state, let alone one as committed to 19th century bosspolitics as New York.

Still, New Yorkers shouldn't have to put up with a systemspecifically designed to obscure the issue. Lawmakers should committo a transparent process that will allow residents to monitor theirwork on this basic democratic process. That should include postingdata and formulas on the Internet.

There are any number of other important matters for Albany totake up this year, including the state's expiring law on automobileinsurance, the ability of local police to up the ante on criminalswho make a career out of committing "quality of life" misdemeanorsand the state's perennially high electric rates. On that latter,lawmakers should consider speeding up the repeal of the grossreceipts tax in the face of a softening economy. The state has ahistory of backing off of tax cuts in a recession. We don't have arecession, but the threat of a slowdown should be enough to light afire under those who understand the ruinous influence of the state'senergy costs.