Change the Albany Culture
by Assemblyman Patrick Manning (R)

Recently IBM announced plans to build a new $2.5 billion facility and create a thousand new jobs in New York. That's good news. The bad news is that New York State had to offer a half billion dollars in tax credits, grants and government sponsored loans to keep IBM in New York.

Why?

Why is it that the State of New York, with its talented work force, prestigious Universities, cultural attractions, and quality of life must give half a billion dollars in tax subsidies to a company like IBM so that IBM will grow its business in New York rather than someplace else?

The simple truth is that New York is not an easy place to start a business or grow a business or make the profits necessary to hire workers at good salaries. In fact, there are 47 others states between the two oceans where it is easier to do that than New York, according to The Tax Foundation.

The result? We are hemorrhaging manufacturing jobs. To keep jobs in New York we must offer tax incentives, tax breaks, tax abatements, investment tax credits, sales tax exemptions and wage tax credits to attract companies and keep the employers we already have. Worse, every time these tax breaks are offered to attract or keep a company, it adds to the tax burden on everybody else. Want a tax break? Announce that your company is leaving and taking jobs elsewhere-and you'll have a plethora of politicians at your door the next morning offering you a maze of tax credits to stay.

Despite the fact that Governor Pataki has initiated or approved more tax cuts than any Governor in New York history, New York still has the highest state and local tax burden of any state in the nation. Only Hawaii has a worse business climate.

That's not the only bad news we need to confront. Between 1997 and 2003 state spending rose 46%, far outpacing the rate of inflation. The "official" state debt burden has grown $20 billion since 1995 to almost $50 billion today. New York's plethora of state authorities carry or hold an additional $70 billion in "off the books" debt. The politicians in Albany are no better stewards of taxpayer's money than some spoiled teenager let loose in a mall with his parent's credit card.

Who will pay? Our children and grandchildren. No right-minded parent would go on a spending spree and send their unemployed twenty-something kid the bill. But that is exactly what Albany politicians are doing to young New Yorkers-racking up a huge credit card bill, refusing to fix a broken system that is driving scores of jobs out of state and making it increasingly difficult for middle class New Yorkers to find or keep a job that pays a decent wage. Worse, Albany's politicians are getting away with this scandalous behavior. Last year, 98% of the incumbents were easily reelected.

It's time to change the Albany culture. And that starts with holding politicians accountable to those they serve.

How?

Competitive Elections. Right now, State Senate and Assembly districts are drawn by the legislative "leaders" whose mission in life is to protect the incumbents who made them "leaders." The result? Most legislative races are not "races" at all. The outcome is preordained. We need to put the drawing of legislative districts in the hands of a non-partisan commission.

Initiative and Referenda. Twenty-seven states now give voters the means of putting initiatives on the ballot, a form of direct democracy sorely needed in New York. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is using this process to goad a recalcitrant legislature into reforming California's budget, arcane workman's comp rules and pension system.

Annual Spending Caps, tied to population growth and the rate of inflation. Ultimately, it will be the only way to discipline spending and force legislators to lead, rather than buy favor with interest groups through their profligate spending and insidious, immoral backdoor borrowing.

Recently I started an organization called www.StandTallNewYork.org to help New Yorkers take back their government. Its purpose is to reform the way New York does business, educate the public about our situation and to help lead a reform movement in New York. Please visit. Tell your friends. Share your thoughts.

You'll become part of a movement that will change New York. Your children will thank you.

Pat Manning (R) has represented portions of the Hudson Valley in the New York State Assembly since 1994. June 2, 2005