Subsidy Sheet: Subsidy stories you may have missed this week

This week in NY corporate giveaway news:

• The Buffalo News Editorial Board asks us to not make “hasty judgments” about a report clearly showing that tax giveaways have a poor ROI.
• What are IDAs? NY Focus answers all your questions in a helpful primer.
• A new website, KnowHorseRacing.com, details the state’s $3 billion in horse racing subsidies and their impact on equines.
• New chip fabs, subsidized by NYS taxpayers, are going to use tons of energy – potentially creating more greenhouse gas emissions (The Verge).

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In housing news:

• REBNY and unions are making some progress on an agreement for replacing 421-a, the handout to real estate costing NYC $1.8 billion a year (The Real Deal). Who’s missing? We’ll give you a hint: It starts with “the p” and rhymes with “the schnublic.”
• Three union leaders call for a “middle-ground approach” on housing (AM New York).
• Sen. Gounardes has a bill that would allow religious organizations to build tax-free housing on their properties (City Limits).
• Gothamist reports on deep disparities in affordable housing creation in NYC, with the wealthiest neighborhoods often adding the fewest low-income units.
• Michael J. Borges, executive director of the Rural Housing Coalition of New York, calls in an op-ed for the state to invest more in rural housing (Times Union).

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ICYMI, at Boondoggle, Pat Garofalo wrote about critical subsidy reforms undone by Louisiana’s new governor.

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