Battle on for Upstate

Last week I brought you up to date on our efforts to defeat a legislative proposal that many upstate New York leaders feared would be the last straw for many rural farmers  – the one that would finally drive more and more upstate farmers right out of business.  

I held it up as a telling example of the upstate-downstate divide that’s a fact of life in New York government at the moment – a government  in which every major statewide office and both houses of the Legislature are controlled by downstate, mostly New York City-based officials.  

I said further that as much as we need to focus, first of all, on bridging this gap for the good of the whole state, there are times when upstate legislators are forced to join together to defend the best interests of a region that’s too quickly forgotten by Albany’s current power brokers. That’s something I’ve been saying repeatedly over the past few years since the levers of power in state government took a decidedly downstate turn: upstate representatives better be ready, anytime and anywhere, to battle like never before to secure our region’s fair and effective representation.

So if you still don’t believe it, consider the following:

1.) Late last week Gov. David Paterson proposed to cut a series of business-related tax credits by an amount approaching $1 billion over the next two years – cuts, according to statewide economic development leaders, that would disproportionately impact upstate employers, thereby threatening upstate jobs and further eroding New York’s already paper-thin credibility as a secure and trustworthy place to do business.

“It’s reneging on commitments the state has made to businesses that have based their investments and growth decisions, in many instances, on those incentives,” said Brian McMahon of the New York State Economic Development Council.

“New York stands out in its willingness to renege on economic development commitments,” said a spokesman for the state’s largest business advocate, the Business Council of New York;

2.)  Continuing to assess the trustworthiness of our current leaders’ commitment to upstate employers and workers, what’s going on with upstate’s No. 1 economic development tool, the Empire Zone program?

Under the provisions of last year’s state budget, which I opposed by the way, the Empire Zone program is set to expire on June 30, 2010. The fate of many of the program’s key incentives hinges on yet-to-be-determined legislative action which, if it doesn’t happen in a way that preserves a strong upstate commitment, means that thousands of upstate jobs could be shoved out the door, including many right here in the Southern Tier where empire zones have been very effective .  

Empire Zone negotiations between the governor and legislative leaders were supposed to take place well before June 30th, but there’s been very little public discussion on where those negotiations stand, their success is far from guaranteed given the leaders’ inability to settle differences on the state’s overall financial plan, and, in the interim, local economic development leaders are left with no long-term economic certainty to offer potential employers interested in expanding or relocating to the region; and

3.) Similar concerns are also being expressed by many upstate employers on the fate of the state’s low-cost economic development power programs, which are set to expire in mid-May.

All of the above are looming job-killers for our region. You can't change the rules in the middle of the game, go back on your word, and ever expect New York to be seen as a secure place to do business and create jobs.  That’s just common economic sense.  

State leaders risk making the border of New York State one long ‘Going Out of Business’ sign.  They’re on the verge of eliminating upstate New York’s number one economic development tool, with nothing set in stone to replace it, during the worst economic crisis any of us can remember.  Low-cost economic development power is set to expire.  Business tax increases are being discussed.    How does it make sense?  How is it fair or balanced to upstate’s ability to attract and retain local jobs?  It could stop local economic development dead in its tracks.  It’s unthinkable to not be focused on actions that encourage economic growth at this time.

These are all key upstate economic development concerns.  All of them, at the moment, lost among a group of New York leaders proving unable to reach these key decisions.

So you better believe that those of us who have fought long and hard for upstate won’t sit still and just let it unfold.  We’ve never seen anything like what’s taking place at the moment.

They can shut us out of budget negotiations.  They can refuse to keep the public informed every step of the way on far-reaching decisions that will impact local livelihoods and families.

But it’s only going to make those of us committed to a strong future for upstate even more resolved to stand up for upstate, to speak out for upstate, and to take every opportunity we can possibly to let anyone and everyone know what’s at risk for  upstate.