BCW and Business Coalition Say Reform of Scaffold Law Will Add Millions to State Coffers

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The BCW along with a coalition of business groups again urged the Governor to reform the state’s Scaffold Law stressing the need for additional revenues to close budget gaps created by the pandemic.

Below is the text of the letter:

Dear Governor Cuomo,

Thanks to your leadership, New York is weathering the COVID-19 public health crisis. However, a new budget crisis looms, exacerbated by the loss of revenues due to the pandemic. State and municipal budgets have been decimated, and the financial outlook is bleak. Our infrastructure, once the envy of the world, is saddled with the twin crises of higher costs for sanitation and lower revenues from ridership and tolls. Our schools, many already in need of repair, must now shift their facility and maintenance dollars to manage the new reality of the pandemic.

Fortunately, there is an easy fix to a state law that would annually free up millions of dollars in state and municipal budgets, save hundreds of millions in infrastructure costs, and release an estimated two hundred million a year in education budgets across the state.

The fix is simple. Put New York’s liability laws in line with every other state and every other country in the world. Fix Labor Law 240, also known as the Scaffold Law. Use the budget process to change the standard from the current, outdated absolute liability standard to a more equitable and modern comparative negligence standard.

There are oceans of data supporting this fix. There is no data supporting the current broken system.

You have expressed support for reform. We, the over 75 member organizations of the Scaffold Law Reform Coalition urge you to put those words into action. Put Scaffold Law reform into your 2021 Executive Budget. Now is the time. We cannot let special interests hold our state and municipal budgets hostage any longer. We stand behind you and urge you to finally fix this law and bring New York into the 21st Century and help us recover and heal from this terrible pandemic.

Sincerely,

Allied Building Metal Industries
American Council of Engineering Companies of New York
American Property Casualty Insurance Association
American Rental Association
Associated Builders and Contractors Association of New York State
Associated General Contractors of New York State
Association for a Better Long Island
Big I NY
Buffalo Niagara Partnership
Builders Exchange of Rochester
Builders Exchange of the Southern Tier
Building Contractors Association
Building Trades Employers Association of New York
Business Council of New York State
Business Council of Westchester
Capital Region Chamber of Commerce
Chamber Alliance of New York State
Chemung County Chamber of Commerce
Construction Exchange of Buffalo
Construction Industry Council of Westchester & Hudson Valley
Eastern Contractors Association
Empire State Subcontractors Association
General Contractors Association of New York
Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce
Home Builders & Remodelers of Central New York
Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York
Long Island Builders Institute
Manufacturers Association of New York
Minority & Women Contractors & Developers Association
National Federation of Independent Business New York
New York Conference of Mayors
New York Farm Bureau
New York State Association for Affordable Housing
New York State Builders Association
Northeastern Retail Lumber Association
Northeastern Subcontractors Association
Partnership for New York City
Real Estate Board of New York
Rochester Home Builders
Rome Chamber of Commerce
Special Riggers Association on New York City
Subcontractors Trade Association
Tompkins/Cortland Builders and Remodelers Association
Trucking Association of New York
Westchester County Association