Assemblyman David DiPietro (R,C-East Aurora), who voted against START-UP NY in 2013 and has been a vocal opponent of the legislation since, is renewing his calls to end the program following a dismal report on the effort’s lack of success. START-UP NY has created just 76 jobs despite $53 million in advertising for the program.

“Anybody who has ever tried to start a business, or had to make a payroll, knew this program was going to be an expensive failure,” DiPietro said. “As a small-businessman, I can tell you firsthand, jobs and economic success do not come from government or centralized planning. What would be much less expensive for the small-business owner, the taxpayers of New York, and Albany would be to lower existing taxes on Main Street and drastically reduce the number of regulations our businesses have to comply with. You can’t just pick 20 areas, pick businesses that can exist there, and waive the rules everyone else has to compete under and expect to turn the state around. The only way to turn this state around is to deliver on tax cuts and regulatory reform. The governor may not get a slick press release or a PowerPoint presentation out of it, but people would get decent paying jobs out of it.”

Assemblyman DiPietro is the Ranking Minority Member of the Assembly Committee on Small Business, and has operated his family business, Sparkle Cleaners, for nearly 25 years.