Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF-Sag Harbor) announced the Assembly’s 2016-17 budget proposal helps hardworking New Yorkers and includes robust economic development funding that will help businesses create jobs.

The Assembly budget restores $300,000 in additional support for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), bringing their total funding to $1.8 million.

“By providing counseling to small-business owners and expediting loans for businesses that might not qualify for a bank loan, CDFIs are necessary for New York small businesses to succeed,” said Assemblyman Thiele. “We must continue to support these vital institutions.”

The budget proposal also reduces taxes for small businesses and farmers, extends the beer production credit to include all alcoholic beverages, extends the sales tax exemption for items used at alcoholic beverage tastings, and allows a Thruway toll credit for farmers.

Investing in economic development

The Assembly budget allocates $100 million for the Downtown Revitalization Program, which targets downtown areas across the state that are suffering from economic distress or population loss, $100 million in grants for the Upstate Revitalization Initiative, and $100 million for the RESTORE NY’s Communities Initiative. The budget proposal also calls for the creation of a downtown property revitalization tax credit for upstate.

“It is crucial that we invest heavily in our infrastructure and other development projects to strengthen our economy,” Thiele said. “These initiatives will create a substantial number of construction jobs for communities throughout the state.”

Other economic development initiatives include:

• an additional $1.3 million appropriation for the 10 Centers of Excellence, raising each center’s funding to $1 million;
• an additional $1.2 million for Technology Development Organization matching grants, bringing total funding to $2.6 million – benefiting Regional Technology Development Centers throughout the state; and
• an extension of the Empire State Commercial Production Tax Credit for two more years, to boost film-making in New York State.