Subsidy Sheet: Are New York’s Democratic Senate and Assembly supermajorities going to end grotesque Trump tax breaks or protect local school revenue from IDAs?

May 19, 2023

New York’s Democratic supermajority, aglow from approving a budget that includes at least $8 billion in new corporate handouts, has a few weeks left in the legislative calendar to end grotesque Trump Opportunity Zone tax breaks and protect school revenue from IDA tax abatements.

Over the following days, legislative committees will finalize their agendas. What ends up on those agendas will have a chance of passing this session and what is left off will have to wait until next year.

Our plea: The legislature should act to end New York tax breaks for Trump Opportunity Zones by passing S543 (Gianaris)/A2170 (Dinowitz) and ban IDAs from abating school district taxes by passing S89 (Ryan)/A351 (Bronson).

You can see the full list of bills Reinvent Albany supports on our website.

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New York Corporate Giveaway News:

  • A new program launched by the NYCEDC will provide tax breaks for owners of old office space if they renovate their properties. The program will cost $750 million over 20 years. 
  • In a must-read NYT op-ed, Nate Jensen and Steven Pedigo of UT-Austin explain why corporate giveaways hurt cities, and offer alternatives.
  • Governor Hochul launched a new round of the Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) Initiative that includes child care and other alternatives to corporate handouts. Dare we hope this might be the beginning of defining “economic development” in a more fact-based and sensible way?
  • New Jersey took note of NY’s expanded and extended tax credit for the film industry. The competition between states confirms what we already knew: it’s just a giant race to the bottom.
  • A state review of the unaccountable Chautauqua IDA found that the agency spent more than $250,000 on holiday parties and golf club memberships. The agency was often late in making cut-rate property tax payments (PILOTs) to local municipalities and school districts.
  • More evidence that Opportunity Zones don’t help poor communities dropped this week. New data found that median single-family home and condo prices in OZs stayed the same or decreased in over half of OZs from the fourth quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2023 (they increased slightly in about 40% of OZs).

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If you got this from a friend, sign up here. Subsidy Sheet is written by Elizabeth Marcello and edited by John Kaehny.