In his newborn push for tax-free zones at the state's 64 SUNY campuses — plus a handful of private institutions and related acreage — Gov. Andrew Cuomo will spend the next few weeks trying to appeal to several constituencies.
Of most pressing concern are those in the political realm, especially Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos, who'll have to approve the plan in the 13 session days that remain.
Buckle up, because that span is also supposed to include deals on casino expansion, a women's equality agenda, ethics reform, marijuana decriminalization and other touchy issues.
When the governor rolled out his plan on Wednesday, the quote from Skelos included in the news release was more of a golf clap than a standing ovation. It pointed up the program's "potential," while suggesting that it needed to be part of a more comprehensive package of tax cuts to foster job growth.
Then there's the business community, including upstate advocates who would likely applaud a Cuomo proposal to build Jurassic Park — complete with hungry T-Rex — outside Utica if it would boost the region's economic fortunes. (Discuss: In a choice between Jurassic Park Utica and hydrofracking, which would environmentalists prefer?)
High-tech firms and major manufacturers were also robust in their praise. As General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt said not too grammatically, "As a company with 9,000 employees in New York State, I applaud Gov. Cuomo for taking this initiative to help spur the state's economy."
Significant in its absence from Immelt's opening phrase: Once upon a time, GE had roughly 45,000 employees in Schenectady County alone.
There are policy wonks eager to study the bill language, which will perforce be more detailed than the news release or statements made in the governor's barnstorming tour across the state. Good-government groups will be wary that the initiative doesn't devolve into "Empire Zones Goes to College" by replicating the inefficiency and rank political wheeling and dealing that marked much of that program's history.
A big question is who gets to pick the winners in this process — a power that, like any other, could be used for good or ill depending on the picker.
While details remain to be worked out, the administration says the process will follow the blueprint of Cuomo's Regional Economic Development councils and his NYSUNY 2020 initiative: Local SUNY officials will craft plans that identify companies matching their individual missions, and submit them to Empire State Development Corporation and SUNY's central administration for approval.
If that results in a genuinely bottom-up system, great.
But recent history provides plenty of examples of the executive branch being rather top-down in their involvement. The University at Albany's drawn-out NYSUNY 2020 application, for example, included an initial plan that was largely scrapped and remodeled to Cuomo administration specifications.
But there's another constituency that Cuomo would do well to think about, made up of people who don't put out news releases.
Of special interest to this group is the part of the plan that grants a 10-year state income tax exemption — with no upper limit on income the first five years, followed by a $200,000 annual cap — to employees of companies that set up operations within the tax-free zones.
That means the plan would result in this scene being played out across the state: You're out walking the dog; you see your neighbor and stop to chat; as you walk away, your brain is afire with the thought, "That guy doesn't pay any state income tax."
Small-minded? Perhaps. And as an administration policy expert noted when presented with this scenario, better to have a neighbor whose tax status you're jealous of than no neighbor at all because the house next door has been boarded up.
That's a point the governor ought to be making every time he talks up the plan.
A forthright acknowledgement that someone's tax break will be added to someone else's tax bill (or to someone's budget cut) demonstrates that what he's serving up is an investment, and not corporate Christmas.
cseiler@timesunion.com • 518-454-5619