The calls for reform continue to resonate in the body politic. This year’s state budget embodied significant reform and change in the state’s Empire Zones program. New, more stringent tests for existing participants were enacted and are being applied retroactively. Future participants must meet even higher standards. The sunset of the zones program was accelerated to June 30, 2010. The governor himself heralded the “end of the program.”
Businesses considering expansions and site selectors are unsure of the nature of state assistance going forward. Even surviving participants in the zones program are unsettled by the prospect of the state changing the rules in midstream again. There is little but uncertainty on the horizon.
Original Article: State’s economic development is at a critical crossroads : Sunday Viewpoints : The Buffalo News
