Another Voice / IDA reform
Thomas Roulley: Hoyt-Thompson bill would create good jobs
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In response to the Another Voice article of Dec. 22 written by Brian Mc- Mahon, “Hoyt-Thompson bill would weaken region’s economy,” he is correct about 1.5 million people leaving our state since 2000 because of the lack of job opportunities. He is wrong, though, about the reasons why. People are not quitting their job and leaving because the taxes are high, they are leaving because they could not find a good-paying job.
Most people would love to stay here with their family and would be willing to pay our taxes if they could find a good-paying job. Industrial development agencies should use their resources to attract business that would provide jobs with a living wage. Having a living wage provision for the projects that the IDAs subsidize would ensure that we are getting good jobs for our tax dollars. Without this provision, our tax dollars could go to subsidize low-paying and even minimum-wage jobs.
There are several problems with this. First of all, these low-paying minimum-wage jobs don’t actually create new jobs; they are mostly retail jobs that simply move jobs from one retailer to another. People are not going to buy more food because there is a new supermarket open, they are just buying it someplace else, thus taking away from another retailer and putting someone else out of work.
Low-paying jobs generally have little or no benefits and many workers still need some kind of public assistance like food stamps or Medicaid, thus adding another burden to the taxpayer. However if IDAs attracted good jobs — for example, light industrial jobs in new growth areas like solar panels or wind turbine parts—or attracted out-of-state manufacturers to locate here, they would actually produce new jobs paying a living wage instead of simply moving jobs that will be lost at another local employer.
A living wage is not some outrageous wage that no employer could afford; in Buffalo it would be $15.43 per hour, which is a wage someone could live on without public assistance and in line with what industrial jobs pay.
The Kingsbridge Armory project in the Bronx that McMahon mentioned is a good example of why we need this reform. It was a shopping center project that would have used a lot of our tax dollars to move minimum-wage jobs. The New York City Council, in voting this down, saved taxpayers millions of dollars that could be used for other projects that would provide better jobs and better serve the community in the long run. Projects such as the Yahoo center in Lockport and the Globe factory in Niagara Falls prove that it can be done.
We need to tell our elected officials it’s time for IDA reform in New York State and they need to get these bills to the Assembly and Senate floors and vote yes for IDA reform.
Thomas Roulley of Lewiston is member of the Coalition for Economic Justice, which is pushing for IDA reform.
Published: January 05, 2010, 12:30 am