Walczyk wants commission on government efficiency for New York | St. Lawrence County News

It would consist of eight members: two each appointed by the Senate majority and minority leaders, and two each from the Assembly speaker and minority leader. Members would serve a term of two years and wouldn’t be paid.

The commission would be tasked with generating a report within a year and would continue to generate annual reports from there on. Those reports will deliver their report to the Governor, the Senate President Pro Tempore and the Assembly Speaker.

Walczyk argues that the state’s $750 million budget gap, generated by changes made to the federal rules regarding Medicaid and how states can fund their subsidized health insurance programs, is actually of a symptom of waste, fraud and abuse within the state’s quarter-billion-dollar-plus budget.

“Instead of scrambling to fill the $750 million hole, the real question is why are we in this situation at all?” he said. “New York’s financial woes stem not from the decisions of the federal Congress and President Trump, but from a bloated budget and corrupt process completely out of line with the needs of real New Yorkers.”

Walczyk said his plan would save the state billions and would serve as a check on the budget he says was rammed through late with little transparency.

“By scrutinizing the state’s spending plan and showing people where their tax dollars are going, we can close the funding gap overnight,” he said.

Walczyk pointed to one program as an example of waste, the state’s multi-billion-dollar Empire State Film Tax Credit, which is much-maligned by spending hawks. A tax credit for film and TV productions conducted in New York, Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul called for $800 million for the program this fiscal year, and over $7.7 billion in tax deductions have gone out over 11 years.

The state contends the program nets about $1.70 for local and state government tax coffers per $1 in tax incentives from the state, and the heavily downstate-focused TV and producers groups say there’s been a definite bump in the number of projects happening in the state. With those productions come jobs, investments, and long-term commitments to supporting a local economy. The Motion Picture Association projects $1.3 million per day in local spending can come with a major TV or movie production.

Walczyk pointed to other analysis, paid for by the state with an outside contractor, that the tax film credit generated just 15 cents in taxable revenue per dollar spent. Adding in indirect jobs, which assumes that jobs outside of the production itself will be created because of the presence film projects, the analysis found 31 cents generated per dollar.

Walczyk also pointed to other projects maligned by fiscal conservatives this year, like the $1 billion injection into the state’s energy research arm to achieve climate goals and a $2 billion rebate check plan.

“I know it’s easy and politically expedient for them to point the finger at Washington, but come on; look in the mirror. Time for New York COGE,” he said.