End Cuomo’s Wasteful Economic Development Initiatives

“Andrew Cuomo’s Buffalo Billions program failed to meet promises and resulted in criminal convictions. During my two terms as Mayor of Syracuse, we attracted more than $1 billion in private development by focusing on what is important to business — and nobody went to jail.” — Stephanie Miner

New York State does not have a functioning economic development strategy. Economic development in New York has been based on either pay-to-play tax credit giveaways that have engulfed the governor’s office in continuing investigations, or camera ready proposals of limited substantive value. Neither method has achieved results and a million New Yorkers have left the state since 2010 to seek better opportunity elsewhere. Economic growth that has occurred in and around New York City may have boosted the state’s overall job numbers but the reality is that, at the same time, growth upstate lags at half the national rate.

According to research by the Empire Center:

• New York City and downstate suburban areas have generated 89% of New York State’s private-sector job growth since 2010.
• The Binghamton, Elmira and Watertown/Ft. Drum areas have seen a net loss of private jobs since 2010.
• In 2017, the metro areas of Elmira and Utica-Rome saw job opportunities decline.
• Total private employment in upstate metro areas has grown at less than half of both the NYS and US rate since 2010, and just over half the US rate in 2017.

Cuomo’s giveaways cost residents $4 billion in state spending and foregone revenue in 2016 while our mass transit, roads, and water infrastructure are failing. Studies have shown that New York’s programs offer the costliest and least effective subsidies in the entire country. Money handed out by the Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Council pits municipalities against each other in a Hunger Games model of doling out money that lacks benchmarks and job-creation goals.The current system makes it impossible for the public to know whether dollars have been well spent and has failed to deliver the types of investments in roads, water and high speed internet access that businesses need and rely on.

As the Mayor of Syracuse, I got to witness first hand the corruption of our state’s economic development policies. I saw the State put $90 million into a factory for a company that decided not to use it, and $15 million film hub that was never used and later sold for $1. The State decided for both of those projects that awarding big contracts to campaign donors, who have since been convicted in a bid-rigging scandal, took precedence over fixing our roads and water infrastructure.

In order to ensure that we do not waste taxpayer money, I propose the following:

• Ending the Economic State Development Corporation Giveaways that cost New York taxpayers $4 billion a year.
• End the costly Film Production Tax Credit, which goes to companies that would largely be filming in New York anyway. Currently this costs taxpayers $420million a year at an incredible rate of $42,300 per job.
• End the Regional Economic Development Council sham and replace it with regional investment boards that work collectively to identify investments that seek the biggest benefit for residents.

We will use these funds to

• Invest in New York’s roads, water, energy and internet services;
• Take over the Medicaid burden for the counties outside New York City; and
• Modernize the New York transit system to ensure dependability and reliability.

By taking an approach that helps businesses instead of donors, New York’s economy will become competitive again.

For more information on Stephanie Miner, and to donate, please visit www.minerforny.com