Billsman
January 15th, 2008, 8:34:00 AM
Rescue plan is tough sell downstate
Governor’s plea for entire state to help revitalize upstate economy is being met with some resistance.
By Tom Precious - NEWS ALBANY BUREAU
Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer says upstate needs downstate help.
ALBANY — Is downstate ready to help upstate?
As Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer prepared to deliver his State of the Upstate speech Wednesday in Buffalo, the answer to that question by downstate lawmakers will be a crucial test.
In his State of the State address last week, Spitzer said downstate must recognize the problems of the upstate economy, and he urged the same type of crisis cooperation the state gave New York City during its mid-1970s fiscal crisis.
Spitzer, a Manhattan millionaire, talked of the state’s coming “to the rescue” to help his city back then. “We knew that as one New York, we would rise or fall together. Now is the time for us to come together and do for upstate in our time what our predecessors did for New York City a generation ago,” he said.
In the week since the speech, some in downstate have responded: What about us?
Downstate political and business leaders interviewed said they recognize the problems of upstate but their areas are facing their own issues — whether soaring property taxes, neighborhood crime, public school headaches or jobcreation problems.
“We have been helping upstate forever,” said Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, who represents Mount Vernon and part of Yonkers in Westchester County. “Nobody is saying we should stop sending money upstate, but some needs have to be taken care of downstate. Downstate is not the land of milk and honey.”
“How much more should the downstate area pay to support everyplace else? I don’t think we can afford any more,” said Richard Bivone, president of the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce, who added that rising property taxes on Long Island make it difficult to ask residents there to disproportionately consider the plight of the upstate economy.
Lawmakers from both upstate and downstate note that Spitzer’s ideas for upstate so far don’t amount to any kind of major Marshall Plan rescue effort for the region. In his State of the State, for instance, he proposed a $1 billion “revitalization” fund to pay for various economic development efforts upstate that he is expected to provide more details about in his speech Wednesday at Buffalo State College.
But lawmakers say the $1 billion level is no coincidence; that’s the amount Spitzer and the Legislature tentatively agreed to spend last year on various projects around the state before the deal fell apart and none of the funding went out the door. Now, some lawmakers wonder, is Spitzer merely taking old money from one pot last year to put in a new pot this year?
One leading downstate politician didn’t blink at Spitzer’s added attention to upstate. “There are clearly pockets that have not shared in the growth of this state, and the governor has to simply try to do something about that,” said New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The mayor did not disagree with Spitzer’s comparisons of upstate New York’s problems to the fiscal crisis facing New York City in the 1970s. “We had an enormous fiscal crisis in New York City, and I think, if you take a look, there are parts of upstate where that comparison is probably apt,” Bloomberg said.
Upstate business interests over the years have done little more than preach to the choir. A couple of years ago, a coalition of upstate business groups went on a bus tour to describe the problems and effects of the sagging region’s economy. But they toured only upstate communities, bypassing any effort to take their message downstate to explain the drain the upstate economy has on other communities around the state.
To that end, downstate lawmakers have a general feeling about the condition of upstate, but many acknowledge knowing few of the specifics. Moreover, they talk of their own district’s problems.
Sen. Eric Adams, a Brooklyn Democrat, said half of the black men in his district are unemployed. “I can’t say in my district that the guy on Utica Avenue is less important than Utica, N.Y.,” Adams said.
Adams said he hopes his fellow Democrat, the governor, was talking last week about helping all the state’s battered communities — not just upstate. “Downstaters are sitting at their kitchen table with their head in their hands wondering how to pay for heating costs and food costs and tuition. We’re all in this mess together,” Adams said.
Upstate business interests say it will take more than state money to bring back the region’s economy. They say Albany has to better consider lowering the cost of business and government, including things like high property taxes, high utility rates and complying with regulations.
Some groups say that upstate, given the crisis facing the economy in some communities, should be given special treatment from Albany, such as eliminating for the region certain regulations that drive up the costs of public and private construction projects.
Unshackle Upstate, a business group formed in 2006, is pushing for elimination of the franchise fee on upstate businesses and the establishment of a special property tax break for upstate-only companies.
Such ideas have not been embraced so far by the governor, and some upstate lawmakers say even Spitzer’s more modest ideas for the region will not face an easy path at the Capitol.
“People are always districtspecific in Albany. Everybody is. So, there will be a challenge to make the governor’s plan a reality that allows other members to make them feel like they are delivering for their districts, as well,” said Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples, a Buffalo Democrat.
Sen. John Flanagan, a Suffolk County Republican, said many legislators can look beyond their districts. “My job title is state senator. Now I represent the Second Senate District, but we have an obligation to deal with all areas of the state,” he said. Flanagan noted a $30 million agriculture fund approved last year that delivered nothing for his district.
“If the governor has a strong focus on upstate, I don’t have a problem with that. But it should not be done to the exclusion of others,” Flanagan said.
Bivone, the Nassau Chamber of Commerce leader, said when it comes to matters like high property taxes, upstaters and Long Islanders have much in common, though levies on the island are far higher than upstate.
Whatever the state does for taxpayers this year, “It’s got to be balanced. You can’t expect it to be balanced on downstaters,” Bivone said.
Some upstate business owners have little optimism that Spitzer’s talk will actually lead anywhere. Carl Paladino, a Buffalo developer, talked of the movement of cheap energy out of Western New York to downstate areas and Thruway tollpayers subsidizing free highways downstate.
“We’ve been poorly represented. Downstate has always controlled our destiny through the Assembly and weak governors — I don’t think they even know we exist in New York City,” said Paladino, lashing out at the Western New York delegation, the downstate-dominated Assembly and “limousine liberals” from Manhattan.
“They have to start thinking that upstate is a part of this state,” Paladino said.
tprecious@buffnews.com (tprecious@buffnews.com)
Governor’s plea for entire state to help revitalize upstate economy is being met with some resistance.
By Tom Precious - NEWS ALBANY BUREAU
Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer says upstate needs downstate help.
ALBANY — Is downstate ready to help upstate?
As Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer prepared to deliver his State of the Upstate speech Wednesday in Buffalo, the answer to that question by downstate lawmakers will be a crucial test.
In his State of the State address last week, Spitzer said downstate must recognize the problems of the upstate economy, and he urged the same type of crisis cooperation the state gave New York City during its mid-1970s fiscal crisis.
Spitzer, a Manhattan millionaire, talked of the state’s coming “to the rescue” to help his city back then. “We knew that as one New York, we would rise or fall together. Now is the time for us to come together and do for upstate in our time what our predecessors did for New York City a generation ago,” he said.
In the week since the speech, some in downstate have responded: What about us?
Downstate political and business leaders interviewed said they recognize the problems of upstate but their areas are facing their own issues — whether soaring property taxes, neighborhood crime, public school headaches or jobcreation problems.
“We have been helping upstate forever,” said Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, who represents Mount Vernon and part of Yonkers in Westchester County. “Nobody is saying we should stop sending money upstate, but some needs have to be taken care of downstate. Downstate is not the land of milk and honey.”
“How much more should the downstate area pay to support everyplace else? I don’t think we can afford any more,” said Richard Bivone, president of the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce, who added that rising property taxes on Long Island make it difficult to ask residents there to disproportionately consider the plight of the upstate economy.
Lawmakers from both upstate and downstate note that Spitzer’s ideas for upstate so far don’t amount to any kind of major Marshall Plan rescue effort for the region. In his State of the State, for instance, he proposed a $1 billion “revitalization” fund to pay for various economic development efforts upstate that he is expected to provide more details about in his speech Wednesday at Buffalo State College.
But lawmakers say the $1 billion level is no coincidence; that’s the amount Spitzer and the Legislature tentatively agreed to spend last year on various projects around the state before the deal fell apart and none of the funding went out the door. Now, some lawmakers wonder, is Spitzer merely taking old money from one pot last year to put in a new pot this year?
One leading downstate politician didn’t blink at Spitzer’s added attention to upstate. “There are clearly pockets that have not shared in the growth of this state, and the governor has to simply try to do something about that,” said New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The mayor did not disagree with Spitzer’s comparisons of upstate New York’s problems to the fiscal crisis facing New York City in the 1970s. “We had an enormous fiscal crisis in New York City, and I think, if you take a look, there are parts of upstate where that comparison is probably apt,” Bloomberg said.
Upstate business interests over the years have done little more than preach to the choir. A couple of years ago, a coalition of upstate business groups went on a bus tour to describe the problems and effects of the sagging region’s economy. But they toured only upstate communities, bypassing any effort to take their message downstate to explain the drain the upstate economy has on other communities around the state.
To that end, downstate lawmakers have a general feeling about the condition of upstate, but many acknowledge knowing few of the specifics. Moreover, they talk of their own district’s problems.
Sen. Eric Adams, a Brooklyn Democrat, said half of the black men in his district are unemployed. “I can’t say in my district that the guy on Utica Avenue is less important than Utica, N.Y.,” Adams said.
Adams said he hopes his fellow Democrat, the governor, was talking last week about helping all the state’s battered communities — not just upstate. “Downstaters are sitting at their kitchen table with their head in their hands wondering how to pay for heating costs and food costs and tuition. We’re all in this mess together,” Adams said.
Upstate business interests say it will take more than state money to bring back the region’s economy. They say Albany has to better consider lowering the cost of business and government, including things like high property taxes, high utility rates and complying with regulations.
Some groups say that upstate, given the crisis facing the economy in some communities, should be given special treatment from Albany, such as eliminating for the region certain regulations that drive up the costs of public and private construction projects.
Unshackle Upstate, a business group formed in 2006, is pushing for elimination of the franchise fee on upstate businesses and the establishment of a special property tax break for upstate-only companies.
Such ideas have not been embraced so far by the governor, and some upstate lawmakers say even Spitzer’s more modest ideas for the region will not face an easy path at the Capitol.
“People are always districtspecific in Albany. Everybody is. So, there will be a challenge to make the governor’s plan a reality that allows other members to make them feel like they are delivering for their districts, as well,” said Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples, a Buffalo Democrat.
Sen. John Flanagan, a Suffolk County Republican, said many legislators can look beyond their districts. “My job title is state senator. Now I represent the Second Senate District, but we have an obligation to deal with all areas of the state,” he said. Flanagan noted a $30 million agriculture fund approved last year that delivered nothing for his district.
“If the governor has a strong focus on upstate, I don’t have a problem with that. But it should not be done to the exclusion of others,” Flanagan said.
Bivone, the Nassau Chamber of Commerce leader, said when it comes to matters like high property taxes, upstaters and Long Islanders have much in common, though levies on the island are far higher than upstate.
Whatever the state does for taxpayers this year, “It’s got to be balanced. You can’t expect it to be balanced on downstaters,” Bivone said.
Some upstate business owners have little optimism that Spitzer’s talk will actually lead anywhere. Carl Paladino, a Buffalo developer, talked of the movement of cheap energy out of Western New York to downstate areas and Thruway tollpayers subsidizing free highways downstate.
“We’ve been poorly represented. Downstate has always controlled our destiny through the Assembly and weak governors — I don’t think they even know we exist in New York City,” said Paladino, lashing out at the Western New York delegation, the downstate-dominated Assembly and “limousine liberals” from Manhattan.
“They have to start thinking that upstate is a part of this state,” Paladino said.
tprecious@buffnews.com (tprecious@buffnews.com)