On the heels of a press conference held in Albany today by Assembly Minority Leader Brian M. Kolb (R,C-Canandaigua), Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) has called for an end to unspecified spending of tax dollars and the autonomous control of taxpayer funds that continue to support botched economic development programs. New York was once again ranked near dead last in economic outlook this year, according to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

“The main issue with our economic development spending is that it’s riddled with pay-to-play, unilaterally controlled by the governor, and is essentially devoid of transparency in many respects,” Hawley said. “We were promised a job report on START-UP NY on April 1, 2016 and have yet to see one, despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars of our citizens’ money on advertising and tax breaks. On another note, the longer the Buffalo Billion project goes on, the more problems come to light and the more intricate the web of inefficiency and shady political and businesses deals becomes. Taxpayers deserve to know where their money is going and that’s why this legislation is important.”

Hawley and his colleagues today introduced legislation that would mandate full transparency in spending allocations, penalties for failing to meet reporting deadlines (such as the case with START-Up NY), and auditing of all state economic development programs, among other provisions.