New York Governor Kathy Hochul has stars in her eyes.
But she expects taxpayers to foot the bill for her Hollywood dreams.
And her outrageous scheme threatens to crush New York taxpayers at the worst time possible.
The highest inflation in a generation and combined with a nasty recession are taking a massive toll on American families everywhere.
But thanks to dystopian pandemic policies those in blue states are dealing with even more of an uphill battle.
Many who could afford to do so abandoned states where leaders blindly implemented economically devastating lockdowns.
Now, those citizens left behind in blue states attempting to mount a recovery are stuck trying to navigate life while their elected officials float dubious “recovery” ideas.
Hollywood will help
Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) believes having taxpayers pay actors and directors to make movies in the state will stimulate New York’s economy.
The state already blesses the film industry with some $420 million a year in tax credits, but Hochul wants to blow the top off that budget and pass out a stunning $700 million a year to movie makers.
Hochul’s proposal that almost instantly garnered pushback.
“Even by New York standards — by excessive New York standards — this is astounding almost,” founding senior fellow of the Empire Center, E.J. McMahon pointed out. “Why do you have to increase it, much less maintain it? It does not pay for itself. It absolutely does not.”
One reason might just be because Hochul’s successful reelection campaign for governor was funded in part by the film industry, with hundreds of thousands in contributions flowing into her campaign coffers from some of the same players who now stand to benefit from the proposal.
Hochul’s plan is especially significant in light of what’s shifted in terms of who gets their hands on taxpayers’ hard earned dollars.
If this new plan becomes a reality, actors, directors, composers and producers will be profiting directly for the first time.
“The governor’s plan, unveiled as part of her $227 billion state budget proposal last week, doesn’t stop there. For the first time, Hochul said she wants the state to allow productions to claim the credit for so-called “above the line” costs — things like pay for actors with speaking roles, performers, directors, composers and producers, subject to certain limitations,” Gothamist reported. “Currently, the tax break applies only to “below the line” costs like crew salaries, background actors, facility rentals, editing, catering and the like.”
For someone who just made it through the narrowest gubernatorial New York election in decades, Hochul is certainly taking a bold approach to paying back political favors.
At the rate she’s going, New York’s first female governor might just be paving the way for the state’s fourth Republican governor to take over.
Stay tuned to Blue State Blues for any updates to this ongoing story.
