Amazon not prime for New York
It appears not everyone loves poured in as they attempted to New York. Amazon has broken lure the highly profitable enteroff its brief relationship with prise to their venue. the city, longThis approach to “economic time New Yorkdevelopment” is common. Cities ers are comand states often compete in efplaining about forts to get business to expand the rising cost of or locate within their boundgetting lunch bearies. cause of a miniBut, when companies — esmum wage hike, pecially highly profitable ones and the state that pay no federal taxes — are treasury is comgiven hundreds of millions in ing up short due state and local tax relief then to the exodus of high earners. the cost must be borne by the
No, all is not well in the Demother businesses and individual ocratic Socialist Republic of taxpayers in a city or state. In New York. Pennsylvania the duplicity is ex
New York’s attempt to intertreme: Philadelphia and Pittsfere in free markets by picking burgh offered Amazon millions winners and losers has backto come here while at the same fired spectacularly in the case time Governor Wolf and legislaof Amazon’s now withdrawn tive Democrats want to tax natdecision to locate half of its secural gas drillers, who are alond national headquarters in ready here.
Queens. The decision came afThe cost of such “incenter activists and politicians tives” falls particularly hard on such as media darling Alexansmall businesses, almost all of dria Ocasio-Cortez blasted the which never are given any such lucrative package of incentives tax breaks. The Keystone Busithe city and state dangled beness Climate Survey of business fore Amazon during the site seowners and chief executive offilection process. cers has polled this question re
A broken clock is right twice peatedly over the years and the a day as the saying goes, and it people who actually own and applies here. Although for the run businesses already here say wrong reasons, Ocasio-Cortez they would rather the state imand her supporters were justiprove its overall tax and busified in their opposition to the ness climate than offer targeted Amazon deal. They decried the incentives to favored compacorporate welfare offered to nies. lure Amazon to New York. Neither Pennsylvania nor
Amazon played cities and New York has much going for states across the nation against them on that front. The Amerieach other in a high profile can Legislative Exchange Counsweepstakes with the prize becil’s newly released Rich States/ ing chosen as the site for soPoor States report listed Penncalled HQ2. Offers of tax credsylvania’s tax/business climate its, tax relief, and outright as 38th among the states. New grants of taxpayer money York ranked dead last at 50th.
New York had the worst tax/ business climate in the nation even before its increase of the minimum wage to $15 per hour. In recent days price hikes have taken hold at New York City restaurants and customer complaints are on the rise. When mandated by government to pay higher labor costs businesses have few options and raising prices is one of them.
The Lincoln Institute’s Keystone Business Climate Survey has also found that owners/ CEOs will cut employee hours, eliminate jobs, or even go out of business entirely if the minimum wage is increased. Wolf, wanting to emulate the failed policies in New York is pushing for just such an increase in Penn’s Woods. He also wants to mandate a minimum salary for teachers. Both proposals fail to take into consideration the ability of those paying the salary to cover increased labor costs.
An inevitable result of this government meddling in the marketplace is that businesses and people leave. New York has seen a decline in state tax revenue because not only businesses, but high earners are fleeing the state to escape its high tax burden.
Pennsylvania has one advantage over New York: a state legislature that has largely kept a Democratic governor from implementing disastrous economic policies. Despite the fact these policies have already failed in our neighboring state, Tom Wolf continues to blindly walk down the same path. It remains to be seen whether or not the legislature joins him on that journey.