In the wake of the massive corruption scandals in Gov. Cuomo’s economic-development programs, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli asked the Legislature to help prevent it from happening again. The state Senate passed the two resulting bills — but the Assembly is sitting on them.
The Procurement Integrity Act would restore the comptroller’s authority to review contracts before they’re acted on — and prevent corruption like the kind that got Cuomo’s top aide, Joe Percoco, convicted and another official, Alain Kaloyeros, facing trial this month.
The second bill would require that all “economic development” handouts be listed in a database, along with the amount of the subsidies and the number of jobs promised. That would give taxpayers a sense of how much of their money is being spent per job, and whether those jobs are actually created.
These bills are no-brainers, particularly given the billions Cuomo & Co. have showered on projects that haven’t panned out, as well as those now exposed as corrupt.
The Senate passed the database bill unanimously and the Procurement Integrity Act by 60-2. And more than a dozen diverse voices — building-workers union 32BJ SEIU, the Citizens Budget Commission, the NYS Council of Churches, the League of Women Voters, Reinvent Albany, Make the Road NY — demand that Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie at least let members vote on the bills before the June 20 end of the legislative season.
It’s as simple as this: State and local governments spend a whopping $8 billion a year on economic development. Taxpayers shouldn’t have to find out how that money is spent by watching corruption trials.



