Hi John,

The State Budget deadline has come and gone, and still, there is no budget agreement, and no further details on what it might include when there is one.

So what is holding up the state budget, anyway? Based on the rumors around the Capitol, Governor Hochul is refusing to budge on her proposal to give over $1 billion in state and local subsidies to build a new football stadium for the Buffalo Bills. It would be the largest subsidy in NFL stadium history — if, that is, it’s approved by the State Legislature in the very same budget they’re trying to finalize right now.

But some of our state lawmakers are refusing to play along with the Governor’s game. And they’re right. It’s time for New York’s leader to drop the pretense of “economic development” in the form of wasteful subsidies, corporate welfare, and giveaways to billionaires, and recognize that the money would be far better invested, dollar for dollar, in programs that support our people and communities — programs like child care. Email Governor Hochul, State Leaders and your State legislators now and demand they prioritize children, not billionaires, in this year’s state budget! We need at least $3 billion for child care!

The city of Buffalo has the second highest child poverty rate in the nation: two in five children in Buffalo currently live in poverty, and that number is rising. Meanwhile, the owners of the Buffalo Bills, Terry and Kim Pegula, have an estimated personal worth of $5.8 billion.

Every dollar we spend on child care generates as much as $16 in benefit each year, in the form of parents who can go back to work, fair compensation for child care educators, and quality care for children that puts them on the path to educational success. By contrast, the state’s own analysis says the new stadium for the Buffalo Bills would not significantly benefit the economy. Numerous studies by independent experts show stadium projects are a bad investment of public funds, and most of the new jobs the state claims would be created are temporary construction jobs.

We live in one of the wealthiest states in the country, with a surplus of billions of dollars. Real economic development means investing in New York’s people and communities, not diverting those resources away from our communities through “economic development” in the form of state subsidies to billionaires. Email Governor Hochul, State Leaders and your State legislators now and demand they prioritize children, not billionaires, in this year’s state budget.

In solidarity,

Jasmine Gripper