Unshackle Upstate has released a five-point plan for job growth and lower taxes in the parts of the state that aren’t New York City.

The plan focuses primarily on eliminating or changing certain taxes and surcharges. But Unshackle officials are also highlighting the potential benefits fracking the Marcellus Shale.

During a press conference this morning at the Rochester Business Alliance offices, Unshackle Upstate executive director Brian Sampson said that fracking could create 12,000 to 15,000 jobs in the Southern Tier. And a press release from Unshackle says that fracking would generate approximately $78 million for the state in 2014-15. (The job creation figures and economic benefits of fracking are often viewed skeptically, in part because many of the jobs go to workers from outside the areas where drilling is happening.)

“We think it’s time for New York to get off the dime and develop the Marcellus Shale through hydraulic fracturing,” Sampson said.
Unshackle Upstate is also calling for:

  • A 25 percent reduction in income taxes for upstate residents making less than $50,000 a year;
  • Phasing out the corporate franchise tax by 2018;
  • Halving the state sales tax in upstate counties that have high unemployment rates and declining populations;
  • Eliminating the 18a energy assessment for upstate manufacturers — a move that would lead to slightly cheaper energy costs for manufacturing businesses.

Left unsaid is how to make up for the revenues lost through these moves. Unshackle officials say that’s not their problem — it’s the state job to fill the gap.

Republican Senator Joe Robach, Democratic Senator Ted O’Brien, and Assembly Republican Minority Leader Brian Kolb spoke in support of Unshackle Upstate’s plan. O’Brien, however, says that he only supports the tax components. He’s not committing to the fracking plank, he says, and wants to wait for the results of the state Department of Environmental Conservation and Health Department reviews.

All three legislators said that upstate needs a different approach to taxes than New York City. And since the State Legislature has passed special laws just for New York City, they said they see no reason why the same couldn’t be done for upstate.

Below are video clips from Kolb’s and O’Brien’s remarks.

This article appears in Oct 2-8, 2013.

Covers county government and whatever else comes my way. Greyhound dad; vegetarian; attempted photographer with a love for film and fixer; sometimes cyclist.

5 replies on “Unshackle Upstate wants fracking, lower taxes”

  1. Every posting I’ve put on Unshakle Upstates web site against their Koch brothers ‘think tank’ reports on fracking, they take down. They don’t want any facts or figures, just their ‘pusher man’ spin. The only ‘unshakling’ that UU wants to do is for their corporate cronies. Especially, since we only have ad valorem taxes on gas drilling in NYS which are based on property and profit (both of which are proving unprofitable for the industry when it’s only $3mcf). Only state without a severance tax. Unshakle this……

  2. May we assume that none of the members of Unshackle New York or any of their pet politicians live near, or plan to move to , those areas where fracking will take place?

    And of course none of this merry band has the slightest personal economic investment or involvement with any of the gas or construction/pipeline companies, do they?

  3. At the moment fracking is about the only glimmer of hope on the American economic landscape. By allowing our dimwitted politicians to drag their feet, New Yorkers are getting left behind for no good reason!

  4. I would rather see what other organizations that are concerned with poverty and progressive solutions rather than depending on these guys who have for years supported privatization of services and avoid fair tax rates for the most wealthy. Contact other groups for their plans including Howie Hawkins for the New Green Deal and Fiscal Policy Institute. We do not need anymore shortsided let the rich get richer schemes.

  5. The so-called jobs will be filled by out of state oil workers from Montana, Louisiana and other states where they already have fracking established. My hometown of Wheeling, WV has been overrun by the fracking industry and it is horrible. You will not benefit from fracking. the roads will be cluttered with trucks day and night and these out of state migrant workers will establish temporary housing with no regard or care for their temporary communities.

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