Governor nominees Cuomo, Paladino offer plans on NY economic development

Cuomo, Paladino offer plans on NY economy

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York’s gubernatorial nominees offered contrasting proposals Monday on issues the polls show are most important to voters: Jobs and the economy.

Democrat Andrew Cuomo, the state’s attorney general, would add far greater accountability to New York’s economic development efforts, with a focus on regional needs and resources.

Republican businessman Carl Paladino would eliminate or cut taxes on manufacturers as an incentive to relocate and stay in the state, a new direction for economic development in a state that often refers to manufacturing only in historical terms.

“We want to create good jobs, we want to have the reputation of a state that does not have a corporate franchise tax on manufacturers,” Paladino told The Associated Press. “You can come here and open a plant and not have to deal with an onerous tax.”

Cuomo, the former federal housing secretary, would end the long-criticized system in which a state agency run by government appointees award tax breaks to attract or retain employers. His system would create regional initiatives that focus on local resources.

The proposal would put the lieutenant governor — his running mate is Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy — in charge of economic development. And for the first time, economic development would be run by someone responsible to voters.

“There is a regional strategy we need for Long Island, different strategy and different plan for western New York, different strategy for the Hudson Valley,” Cuomo said at a Long Island campaign stop. “There is no one New York state economic development.”

Paladino, a Buffalo developer in his first political race, would scrap variations on targeted tax breaks that have been used for decades to help a single, often politically connected business at the expense of its competitors. Instead, Paladino would eliminate capital gains taxes and corporate franchise taxes as a way to attract and retain manufacturers, from traditional auto industry companies to high tech producers of goods.

His plan would save businesses — and cost Albany — about $1 billion a year.

Paladino said ending all or most taxes on manufacturers with higher paying jobs would set New York apart from most states. His proposal meshes with his promise to cut personal income taxes by 10 percent, which he said he would do by moving up the planned 2012 sunset of a law that increased taxes for wealthier New Yorkers.

“The government can’t create jobs, only entrepreneurs and business will create jobs to rebuild New York and get new Yorkers working again,” Paladino said.

Associated Press Writer Frank Eltman contributed to this report from Jericho, N.Y.