New York state and local governments spend $10 billion per year on economic development incentives, with no signs of abating.
In fact, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget proposal would increase the state’s film-tax credit from $425 million to $700 million per year, as well as provide a $455 million loan to the New York Racing Association to renovate Belmont Park.
A coalition of good-government organizations urged legislative leaders to freeze the current program and reject new and expanded ones in the final budget deal for the fiscal year that begins April 1.
“New York is confronted by massive wealth and societal inequality, and there is a mountain of evidence that shows giving wealthy investors and corporations huge wads of taxpayer dollars is simply dumb; it is wasteful, corrupt, and yet another form of trickle-down economics,” Elizabeth Marcello, senior research analyst at Reinvent Albany, said at a news conference last week.
Hochul’s proposals come after the state pledged a state record $6 billion in subsidies last fall to entice Micron Technology Inc. to invest $100 billion near Syracuse.
NEW YORK CITY It is the largest city in the world found in the USA(Photo: https://geographypoint.com/)
Because of its high cost of living, New York has long been a national leader in providing subsidies to attract new businesses and retain existing ones, whether through state programs or local ones such as industrial development agencies.
The Hochul administration has defended the latest proposals, claiming that New York is losing productions to neighboring states and that the funds for Belmont Park are necessary to save the venerable track that hosts the third leg of the Triple Crown.
“To let it deteriorate and decline to the point where it can no longer even host the Belmont Stakes — it’s just an eyesore, and that would be negligence on our part,” Hochul told reporters on Feb. 15.
The NYRA has maintained that it will repay the money to the state, with CEO David O’Rourke recently describing it as a “transformational project” for racing in New York and the region.
Nonetheless, the Campaign to End Horse Racing Subsidies protested the proposal at the Capitol on Wednesday, with its leader, John Schleib, saying that “if private funding won’t back a new Belmont, New York State shouldn’t either.”
The question now is whether legislative leaders will support Hochul’s plan, and some lawmakers expressed concerns about expanding subsidies in the face of the state’s numerous needs during recent budget hearings.
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HARD HATS IN THE HOUSE: Hundreds of local highway officials urged the state to increase the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement (CHIPS) program by $200 million to $738 million annually as lawmakers returned to the Capitol on Wednesday after an extended holiday break.
Every year, Republican lawmakers host the event, which draws a large crowd, mostly from rural areas, to the statehouse.
WAR ON TOBACCO: As the state budget deadline approaches, Hochul’s fight over tobacco proposals rages on in the halls of the Capitol. The Tobacco Kills New York coalition urged lawmakers on Wednesday to support the governor’s plan to raise cigarette taxes and prohibit the sale of all flavored tobacco products, particularly menthol cigarettes.
SHELTER FUND: As the city looks to phase out substandard facilities, the Adams administration is launching a $15 million fund to assist homeless services nonprofits in acquiring sites for new shelters.
Officials said Wednesday that the fund, which is made up of $5 million in city resources and $10 million in philanthropic investment capital from SeaChange Capital Partners, will be used to build up to ten new shelters over the next four years.
OFFSHORE WIND: The majority of developers in New York’s latest offshore wind solicitation recently submitted supply chain proposals that included General Electric manufacturing blades and nacelles at a port near Albany.
The new bid details were included in heavily redacted public documents released earlier this month by NYSERDA. Vestas, GE’s competitor in the offshore wind turbine supplier space, is also considering manufacturing blades at a site in East Greenbush, Rensselaer County, according to the documents.
HEALTH CARE: State legislators have yet to reintroduce the New York Health Act in the current legislative session because they are working on amendments aimed at gaining the support of organized labor, according to Sen. Gustavo Rivera, chair of the health committee, on The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC on Wednesday.
PUBLIC RESTROOMS: It will soon be easier to relieve yourself in a city that is frequently chastised for its lack of public restrooms. New York City Transit President Richard Davey announced on Wednesday that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority would open 24 bathrooms in 12 subway stations by the beginning of May.
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