November 14, 2018

The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo

Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Cuomo:

Re: Amazon Subsidies

Congratulations on your reelection last week. I look forward to getting to work for the people of our state in the
new legislative session in January.

I read with interest the news coverage of the Amazon deal you announced this week. Please provide the cost-
benefit analysis that was performed by your office to determine that the Amazon deal was going to be a
net benefit to the taxpayers of New York State.

I also have a number of important questions that legislators and the public need to have answered:

1. I have seen reports indicating that the average salary for the New York Amazon facility will be
$150,000. As you know the average can be skewed by a relatively few large salaries. For the sake of
clarity, what will be the median income of the workers at the Amazon facility?

2. Will all the promised jobs be directly for Amazon or will some of the jobs be with Amazon
subcontractors as was the case with subsidized communications jobs for IBM in Buffalo?

3. Originally there was only going to be one Amazon second headquarters. Was New York State promise
of subsidies reduced, and if so by how much, when Amazon decided to split the second headquarters
into two locations?

4. According to published reports, Amazon is promising the same number of jobs to Arlington, Virginia
for the other half of the Amazon second headquarters, but Virginia taxpayers are paying approximately
$500 million while New York paying $1.5 billion. Why are NY taxpayers paying three times more for
the same number of jobs as Virginia?

5. In addition to a billion dollars in tax credits, the New York Amazon deal calls for New York State
incentives of $505 million in grants for company's capital costs. In the case of the Central New York
 film hub and Nano Utica, taxpayers paid for facilities that were either not used or severely underused.
What assurances do New York taxpayers have that this capital contribution won’t be squandered?

6. What consequences will Amazon face if they fail to timely meet the promised job growth numbers?
Note, according to a recent New York State Comptroller’s report, on several occasions when job growth
goals were not met, Empire State Development quietly lowered the number of jobs required.

7. In 2013, you hailed Start-Up New York as a “game-changer.” Clearly, Start-Up New York was not a
game changer. By any reasonable analysis, Start-Up New York was a dismal failure. Why will the
Amazon deal be different than the failed Start-Up New York program?

8. New York City is the financial and media capital of the world. It also has one of the most educated
workforces. Without subsidies, New York City would be a desirable location for Amazon. Google has
located 10,000 jobs in the city in recent years. Is it possible that Amazon was coming to New York City
without the subsidies or for lower subsidies? What efforts were made by your administration to
determine this?

9. It is beyond dispute that Amazon’s dynamic business model and size make it impossible for many
smaller retailers to compete. Inevitably other businesses will be hurt by Amazon, jobs will be lost and
competition will be reduced. Why would New York taxpayers, some of whom are being hurt by
Amazon, be forced to subsidize their own demise?

10. What was the economic impact of using the tax benefits for across-the-board tax relief instead of
dedicated solely to a single employer?

11. Was the morality of taxing every-day New Yorkers to subsidize a company owned by the world’s
wealthiest person part of the decision-making process?

12. In the past, your administration has been late and less than forthcoming with job creation numbers from
other economic development projects. Will your administration provide frequent and complete job
creation updates related to Amazon?

13. The New York Constitution expressly bans state subsidies to private businesses. Specifically Article
VII, Section 8 provides that, “The money of the state shall not be given or loaned to or in aid of any
private corporation or association or private undertaking; nor shall the credit of the state be given or
loaned to or in aid of any individual, or public or private corporation or association, or private
undertaking, but the foregoing provisions shall not apply to any fund or property now held or which may
hereafter be held by the state for educational, mental health or mental retardation purposes.” Does the
Amazon deal comply with the New York State constitution?

14. Amazon has demonstrated a desire to expand its use of drones, artificial intelligence and other forms of
automation. How will an increase in automation impact the number of jobs in New York over the long
run?
 15. Have you and will you in the future accept campaign contributions from Amazon executives, major
shareholders or other beneficiaries of the Amazon deal?

I look forward to hearing from you. Please contact me at my district office at (845)221-2202 or by email,
lalork@nyassembly.gov .

Sincerely,

Assemblyman Kieran Michael Lalor

105th NYS Assembly District