Today in your Trail Mix:
The governor repeats the "jobs, jobs, jobs" refrain in praise of his state budget.
Kodak employees get hit with a pay freeze.
Plus, the shale boom has ups and downs for small business owners.
Budget
The governor says the newly agreed-upon state budget is all about jobs and economic development, including $1.2 billion for infrastructure spending (Jimmy Vielkind, Times Union).
The state's $300 million part of the $4.8 million chip fabrication plant construction in Albany is included in the budget agreement (Larry Rulison, Times Union).
New York's power authority will not buy power from coal-fired plants in western New York. The measure, which would have helped the plants stay afloat in the face of competition from natural gas, was not included in the budget (David Robinson, Buffalo News).
Business
U.S. employees of Kodak will have their pay frozen over the next year as part of the company's bankruptcy proceedings (Matthew Daneman, Democrat and Chronicle).
Jim Heaney over at the Investigative Post makes the case against IDAs using tax dollars to subsidize new hotels.
Contractors continue their push to repeal New York's "scaffold law," which holds businesses liable for construction accidents [VIDEO] (Maureen McManus, State of Politics/Capital Tonight).
Bausch + Lomb is buying a California pharmaceutical firm for $500 million (Matthew Daneman, Democrat and Chronicle).
The Seneca Nation has announced plans to expand a downtown Buffalo casino, after a four year pause in construction (Charlie Specht, Buffalo News).
Natural gas
The shale gas boom has small business owners conflicted: New opportunities abound, but labor prices are going up as workers jump into drilling jobs (Suzanne Sataline, Entrepreneur).
Production in the Marcellus Shale is also a boon to the steel makers who make the pipes that transport the gas (John W. Miller, Wall Street Journal).
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