Subsidy Sheet: NY secret virtual budget negotiations will OK billions to super-rich
The Democrats who completely control the New York State Legislature are secretly negotiating the budget internally via virtual conference, and will pass it next week with no public hearings, no floor debate, and close to zero public scrutiny (City & State).
The budget takes up most of the legislative session and has evolved to include most major policy decisions. This year’s budget will include at least $3.7 billion in NEW taxpayer subsidies to super-rich investors in film and theater productions (among others), and may include changes that would weaken the public campaign finance system.
If the GOP congress and Trump administration tried to do this Washington, Democrats would rightly decry it as sickeningly unaccountable and irresponsible. Here in New York – *shrug* – if the Democrats do it (and their core supporters get their money), this kind of contempt for the basic norms of a healthy democracy is taken for granted.
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Data centers: Good Jobs First published a new report, “Cloudy with a Loss of Spending Control,” showing that state data center tax breaks are costing at least 10 states $100 million a year, a number that will skyrocket as states race to build more data centers to accommodate our AI overlords. The report comes at the heels of the announcement that the upstate Genesee County Economic Development Center will give a $472 million tax break for a data center at the STAMP business park.
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Yogurt: Governor Hochul announced the “Nation’s Largest Ever Investment in” … yogurt. Chobani, a major dairy producer, will get up to $73 million from NYS for 1,000+ jobs. It’s unclear why Chobani needs the money when the company’s estimated value is $10 billion and CEO Hamdi Ulkaya’s net worth is $2.5 billion. The most infuriating part of this, of course, is that Fage is indisputably creamier, healthier, and more invigorating.
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More corporate giveaway news from this week:
- Broadway: NYC’s musical and theatrical tax break – soon to be $400 million in the aggregate – probably exists to help the city out-subsidy London’s West End (Reuters – h/t to Sean at CBC for sharing).
- IDAs: The indefatigable journalists at Buffalo’s Investigative Post detail how Industrial Development Agencies earn millions through fees. See our joint report with Good Jobs First on this very issue.
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