The Economic Development Zone program has become a vehicle for giving tax breaks to a variety of corporations with no clear, consistent, verifiable justification for the public investment.
An op-ed penned by CBC President Carol Kellermann and SEIU Local 32BJ President Mike Fishman on the need to revamp New York State's economic development programs.
Deputy Research Director Elizabeth Lynam penned an op-ed in the Albany Times Union that advocates for the overhaul of the State's economic development programs in order to capture true job creation with scarce resources.
This letter was written to urge the State legislature to allow the seriously flawed Empire Zones program to sunset as of June 30, 2010, as established by law, and to enact the Excelsior program as proposed by the Governor.
Last year, New York State began to phase out the roundly criticized program called Empire Zones. The program doles out a panoply of tax incentives to approximately 10,000 firms, either located in an "Empire Zone" or deemed "regionally significant" in return for a commitment to create or retain jobs and to invest capital in the firm's infrastructure.
CBC released a letter that was sent to the New York State Legislature containing “10 Do’s and Don’ts” for spending the estimated $4.8 billion in federal stimulus funds allocated to New York State for use in budget relief in fiscal year 2009-10. The letter briefly outlines the 10 rules and cautions that the funds need to be wisely spent over the next two years.
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