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Cuomo Committing $1 Billion to Development that Targets Buffalo

By Tom Precious

January 4, 2012

 ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo today will commit the state to spending $1 billion on a multi-year economic development program designed to attract new industry, targeting the City of Buffalo.

The guarantee will be made in the governor's second State of the State address this afternoon in a convention center near the Capitol, according to officials with knowledge of the governor's plans.

The targeted money is in addition to the the $100 million recently awarded through a new state regional economic development council.

Although the money is being targeted for Buffalo, some of the funding could end up being spent in the surrounding communities as well, officials said.

This new money would be modeled on the successful nanotechnology industry in Albany. That University at Albany-based program, with the help of hundreds of millions of dollars over the years, has attracted a who's who of major technology companies to the Capitol region.

Cuomo's planned announcement follows several unanswered questions this morning, including the number of years the money would be spent over and what specific industries the administration might have in mind for Buffalo.

Officials said the expertise of the Buffalo area's Regional Economic Development Council would be tapped to develop a multi-year program. Officials said the money is being targeted for Buffalo, but that other communities in the area could also be eligible for funding.

Overall spending for economic development must be approved by state lawmakers, and there would be considerable pressure by suburban legislators to expand the geographic boundaries of the program beyond just the city.

Moreover, the Legislature in 2012 can't bind future legislative spending, but sources close to the plan say the $1 billion is Cuomo's commitment to unleash the money to industries interested in expanding to Buffalo.

The idea is to send a "call out to industry around the world that if they come to Buffalo with a competitive package they will be eligible for $1 billion," a source said.

The administration envisions the state and regional council creating a master plan that uses the $1 billion from an array of government funding pots to leverage at least $5 billion in private money.

There are no immediate plans to specifically target the money to any one industry, officials said. Eligible industries could include biomedical technology, the automobile industry or any other sector that would be able to meet certain, as-yet development job creation guarantees, they said.

The package of money would come from a variety of sources, and could include tax credits, access to low-cost energy, job training and capital grants, infrastructure improvements and funding for real estate investments. The $1 billion also includes an unknown amount of potential federal matching grants.

Officials said some of the money, depending on the uses, could be unilaterally approved by the governor, while others would need legislative authority.

Whether the idea gets changed or not or funding levels rise or dip, the plan puts Cuomo on the political hook for guaranteeing a new level of commitment by the state to one of the nation's poorest cities.

Rep. Kathy Hochul, D-Amherst, said the money promise could be a "game changer" for the region's economy.

"Whether we lure another industry to Buffalo, invest more in the businesses already here, or provide our young people with more training and more education, this funding will have a major impact for Western New Yorkers," Hochul said.

The governor's chief economic development efforts in his State of the State feature New York's geographic bookends: $1 billion for the Buffalo area and construction of the world's largest convention center in Queens to replace an aging convention hall on Manhattan's west side.

In a written message to the Legislature, the governor noted Buffalo has the third-highest poverty rate of any city in the nation. "But it doesn't have to be that way," Cuomo said in written remarks provided before his speech.

The "substantial, sustained state investment" in Albany has created a whole new sector of the Capital District's economy, Cuomo said.

"We did it in Albany, and we can do it in Buffalo," Cuomo said, according to the text.

"We believe in Buffalo. And we'll put our money our money where our mouth is," he said.

The governor said he has asked Bruce Katz, a longtime friend and executive with the Brookings Institution, to help spearhead the Buffalo economic development program.

"We can stop talking about yesterday in Buffalo and start talking about tomorrow," Cuomo said.

The governor also pushed for a constitutional amendment to permit full-fledged casinos to be located on non-Indian owned lands.

"We have long flirted and dallied with another potential economic engine — casino gaming — and when it comes to gaming, we have been in a state of denial. It's time we confronted reality," he said.

The governor noted the state already has 29,000 electronic gambling machines at racetracks and that casino gambling surrounds the state. He called for first passage by the Legislature of a casino gambling amendment to the constitution; voters would have to approve any such plan, which could not happen until November 2013 at the earliest.

The governor also called for a major infrastructure improvement program, including repairs or construction of 100 bridges and 2,000 miles of roads.

With few details, the governor said he also wants to create an "energy highway" from upstate to move power to downstate. He said the state will push to bring excess fossil-fuel power from upstate, including Western New York, to downstate, while promising to preserve low-cost hydropower generated in Western New York for the local region.

Details on the infrastructure and energy plans are expected to be flushed out when Cuomo proposes his 2012 budget in two weeks.

In the usual bows to various interests, Cuomo also said his administration would push new programs for farmers, disabled people, minority-owned businesses, solar power, and public school students. Without elaborating, he said state-imposed mandates on local governments should be eased, and that a new pension "tier" for new state and local government employees created to lower costs.

In a plan tried by past governors, Cuomo said he will also push for an expansion of the state's DNA registration database to capture information on anyone convicted of a felony or misdemeanor in the state.

With the state facing a $2 billion deficit, the State of the State also includes a number of low-cost "task force" kinds of ideas, such as commissions to study everything from school performance to tax fairness.

And in a bow to government reform groups, he said he would support enactment of public financing of campaigns. He did not say how the plan would be funded. He also called for lower campaign donation limits.

 After checking off the laws adopted last year — from a property tax cap to legalization of gay marriage — Cuomo reached out to Republicans and Democrats in the two houses to keep their alliances together in this election year. He lashed out at "cynics" who "say we can't do it again."

"Today, I am telling you this: we are going to reach even higher," he said.

tprecious@buffnews.com