ALBANY — I am proud to announce that IDA Reform Legislation (S.5867 / A.7915) that I sponsored in the Assembly and that Senator Kathleen Marchione co-sponsored in the Senate has been signed into law by Gov. Cuomo.

This legislation was crafted over the past three years with the help of the Office of the State Comptroller and the NYS Economic Development Council to make operations of industrial development agencies (IDAs) more transparent and accountable.

IDAs are public benefit corporations created by an act of the state legislature on behalf of one or more local governments. IDAs are intended to advance the job opportunities, health, general prosperity and economic welfare of the people of the State of New York, and to improve their recreation opportunities, prosperity and standard of living.

The new law requires that all IDAs develop a uniform project agreement for companies receiving financial assistance, and requires companies receiving assistance to annually certify the numbers of jobs created or retained on a project.

The new law also requires that IDAs have uniform criteria for the selection and evaluation of projects, and finally, it requires IDAs to develop a policy for the suspension and/or return of financial assistance when companies fail to meet their obligations, including the modification of payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreements.

In addition to sponsoring the above IDA Reform Legislation, as the NYS Assembly Chair of the Committee on Local Governments, my committee also plans to continue to examine the role that industrial development agencies and other local economic development agencies play in New York State’s economic development. The committee is interested in further ensuring that these local agencies are transparent and accountable, with records that are easy to obtain and to understand, that they are creating good jobs, and that they are providing a decent return on the taxpayer funded investments being made.