Three Subsidy Stories You Might Have Missed This Week

1. Transparency is long overdue for public authorities, writes Reinvent Albany alum Liz Marcello in City and State. 

Some authorities simply ignore requests made under the state’s Freedom of Information Law, which is an important tool that allows academics, journalists and the public to gain access to government records. And many more authorities have been the subject of state comptroller audits that revealed overall mismanagement and a lack of transparency. Others, even though defunct, still exist on paper, waiting for a time when a public authority is needed for … who knows what?

2. A Daily News editorial on Cuomo’s legacy mentions the former Governor’s lackluster economic development programs.

Cuomo threw taxpayer dollars at upstate New York to try to get the gears of economic growth turning. That didn’t work. His Buffalo Billion plan was riddled with bribery. A Tesla plant delivered, as of last year, average return-on-investment of 54 cents for every dollar of public money, an abysmal return. A $15 million film production hub near Syracuse faded to black. The governor and his economic development agency made big bets that repeatedly didn’t pan out.

3. At Boondoggle, Pat Garofalo dives into the massive subsidies Big Chicken receives from state and local governments.

…[Tyson] was also undeniably helped along by the insistence of state and local governments on gifting it tax breaks that it poured into undermining competitors and lobbying for new rounds of lax rules […] Overall, Tyson has received more than $250 million in disclosed state and local subsidies, dating back to the late 1980s; it’s received many undisclosed subsidies too, so the total amount is actually much higher than that.

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