New York State’s budget woes have inspired the formation of a coalition of business interests named the “Committee to Save New York,” which is rallying behind the austerity budget proposed by Governor Andrew Cuomo. The Committee’s emergence highlights big business’s stake in the state budget battle, as well as the special interest agenda of the Committee’s primary backers. They have publicly committed to raising more than $10 million for this public offensive.
This report, released in collaboration with the New Deal for New York campaign, examines the ways in which the special interests behind the Committee contribute to and exacerbate the budget problems facing the state. The report shows that big businesses associated with the Committee are some of New York State’s top recipients of government bailouts, subsidies, and generous tax breaks. Additionally, these corporations appear to be going to great lengths to evade taxes, with more than 1,700 affiliated entities incorporated in offshore tax havens such as the Cayman Islands.