June 18, 2018. The Fiscal Policy Institute joined Citizens Budget Commission, Citizens Union, Common Cause NY, and Reinvent Albany in front of the Federal Courthouse in Manhattan to call on Assembly Speaker Heastie to Allow a vote on the Database of Deals and Comptroller’s Procurement Integrity Act.
FPI’s Chief Economist, Jonas Shaende gave the following remarks during the press conference this afternoon, “The lack of transparency and proper oversight enables corruption as is evidenced by these massive criminal trials. The public should know where and how public money is spent. Without appropriate data it is hard to tell whether New Yorkers are getting a good return on their investments through state-funded economic development initiatives. Currently, as if by design, it’s hard to tell if any of these deals make good economic sense. This is why transparency and open data would introduce meaningful improvements to governance and economic policy. FPI strongly supports the Database of Deals and Comptroller Procurement Integrity Act.”
The Database of Deals would increase the transparency of the state’s $4B in annual spending on business subsidies. The comptroller’s Procurement Integrity Act restores and extends the comptroller’s authority to independently review state contracts and act as an independent referee to ensure rules, including MWBE rules, are followed. To learn more about FPI’s work involving these policies see the press release here and continue checking our websites for updates.