Subsidy stories you may have missed

NY corporate giveaway news from this week:

• The New York Times confirms that filmmakers and TV producers are very happy to get giant wads of New York taxpayer cash. The latest self-parody from the Times ignores the paper’s previous (fact-based) reporting and countless studies showing that the $700 million in subsidies New York pays to Hollywood every year are a monumental waste of money. 
• Opportunity Zone superfans are now promoting OZ investments in major league baseball stadiums – a public investment repeatedly proven to produce little benefit for the public.
• Pine Pharmaceuticals of Tonawanda (near Buffalo) is laying off 58 employees, about a quarter of its workforce – just two years after being touted by Governor Hochul as a good job success story and receiving a pledge of up to $650,000 in Excelsior reimbursable tax credits from Empire State Development (WIVB). Excelsior is a $3.5 billion program that uses public funds to reimburse employers for 6.5% of their wages. Research on job location suggests it probably has close to no influence on where businesses locate.

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