ESD Published Misleading Garbage In, Garbage Out Report on New Year’s Eve   On New Year’s Eve of last year, Empire State Development (ESD) published another “analysis” by their consultant Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI) claiming that New York State’s $800-million-a-year subsidy of film and TV productions is a useful way to spend tax dollars. […]

February 17, 2026 Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-CousinsNew York State Senate Speaker Carl HeastieNew York State Assembly Re: Strengthening FOIL in your FY 2027 one-house budgets Dear Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Heastie, We write to urge you to include legislation improving the state’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) in your one-house budgets. Both of […]

State Board of Elections Should Withdraw Advisoryand Go Through Public Rulemaking Reinvent Albany urges the State Board of Elections (SBOE) to withdraw its February 12, 2026 advisory opinion (AO #1 of 2026) allowing candidates and political committees to accept contributions in the form of cryptocurrency. Instead, Reinvent Albany asks SBOE to begin a public rulemaking […]

Months after Governor and Legislature approve new subsidies, film/TV handouts continue to climb   Empire State Development’s latest data shows New York taxpayers shelled out nearly $900 million in subsidies to Hollywood producers in 2025, consistent with Reinvent Albany’s projection from last September, which ESD derided. Unfortunately, New York taxpayers have to watch our money […]