Adrianne Shropshire

Still Waiting for Corporate Tax Break Reform

The NY State Legislature ended its session this summer without acting on proposed legislation that would create higher expectations for companies that receive tax breaks for the promise of jobs and economic development. The negotiations went down to the wire, as they tend to do in Albany, with Senator Nick Spano (R) working late into the night in the final days trying to move Industrial Development Agency Reform legislation. For the second year in a row the Assembly was forced to block long-term re-authorization of the IDA legislation until more meaningful reform measures can be incorporated into the law.

But the campaign, spearheaded by local organizations and coalitions around the state, revealed the simmering anger and disappointment directed at local IDAs across the state. From losing jobs to poverty wages to not being able answer questions about where the money went and what was the local benefit, the effectiveness of this economic strategy was called into question at every level. Let's call it the "we give away tax-payer dollars but we don't ask questions and have no expectations" strategy.

The call for reform was not just broad but deep and the message has taken hold and continues to be advanced even in the post-legislative session hiatus. The Tompkins County Legislature on Tuesday passed legislation that offers tax-breaks to businesses that invest in Ithaca's urban core - their so-called density program. But along with it they past a resolution calling for a "higher bar" for tax incentives. This higher bar calls for the same reforms locally that organizations called for at the state level including:

1. Livable Wages to be paid by the tenants of development projects
2. Local Hiring
3. Mandatory apprenticeship programs in construction for projects over $1 million
4. Diversity plans to track who is being hired in local development projects

The ongoing debate sweeping through counties across the state (several other counties passed similar resolutions prior to the end of the legislative session) is good news for the accountable development movement in the NY State. It is also good for unifying upstate and downstate progressive forces around a common vision for economic growth. In the coming months the New York Initiative for Development Accountability will be convening regional discussions on economic development strategy with the intent of creating a unified and state-wide economic policy agenda. Stay tuned.

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Posted at 10:34 AM, Aug 02, 2006 in Economy
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