Senate Bill S8418

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8418

SPONSOR: RYAN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation to prohibiting
the use of funds, financial incentives or subsidies where facilities or
property are used primarily for e-commerce storage and transfers, or the
facilitation thereof

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to prevent industrial development agencies
from providing subsidies to large multi-national corporations to build
storage and warehouse facilities.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends section 862 of the general municipal law to include a
new subdivision, subdivision 3, which would prohibit industrial develop-
ment agencies from giving funds, financial incentives, and subsidies to
any project where facilities or property are used primarily for e-com-
              

merce storage and transfers.

Section 2 is the effective date.

 
EXISTING LAW:

None.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Industrial development agencies, or IDAs, exist primarily to incentivize
economic development by attracting businesses and creating jobs. The
incentives offered by IDAs often include the waiving state and local
taxes, which results in significant loss over the term of the incentive,
and in return often only provides a few minimum wage or low wage jobs.

Additionally, many incentives have recently been given to large multi-
national corporations at the expense of New York Taxpayers. New York IDA
subsidies given to Amazon have diverted a quarter billion dollars in
just the past two years. This was not the legislative intent when IDAs
were established in 1969 to improve economic conditions and facilitate
economic development in localities.

This bill would prohibit IDAs from offering incentives for e-commerce
storage and transfer facilities often given to large, multi-billion-dol-
lar corporations with dubious economic growth projections at the expense
of local municipalities and their residents.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State.

 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TBD.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.