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ALBANY – Gov. Kathy Hochul argued Monday that taxpayers won’t foot a majority of the bill for the controversial Buffalo Bills stadium deal — even though independent watchdogs have estimated the plan could cost up to $1.13 billion in state subsidies.
“It is not majority taxpayer-funded – I want to be clear on that. The state share is 43 percent. So that’s not the majority, but that’s historically low for any public financing from the state,” Hochul told reporters.
“It’s a regional, important priority for Western New York. Just as there’s other regional priorities for other parts of the state that we’re going to be addressing in this budget,” said Hochul.
But taxpayers will be on the hook for a combined 60 percent of the finances, including $600 million from state taxpayers, plus an extra $250 million from Erie County residents.
NFL and the billionaire Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula – who are residents of Boca Raton, Florida – will cover just $550 million of the $1.4 billion stadium deal.
Reinvent Albany estimated the deal could cost $1.13 billion in taxpayer subsidies over 30 years – dubbing it the “largest NFL stadium subsidy in history,” in a new analysis released Friday.
The issue is becoming a political liability for lawmakers across the state and has been roundly criticized by far-left Democrats and conservatives alike.
“The Governor is missing the main point. Whether it’s local or state money, the taxpayers should have been directing how the public money is spent. This is not her money. It’s not my money. It’s the people’s money,” seethed Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Queens).
“This administration promised transparency and accountability. But the Buffalo Bills stadium deal, as it stands, will further normalize private deals with public money, ushering in a new era of corporate welfare.”
Hochul’s own husband, Bill Hochul, is senior vice president and general counsel for Delaware North, the major food concessionaire at the Buffalo Bills’ current Highmark Stadium. The company stands to potentially benefit from another 30 years of work at the new stadium if the Buffalo-based firm keeps the concession contract.
State Senate Finance Chair Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) – who is involved in budget negotiations – told The Post she thinks the deal stinks.
“I would define government as government. I would absolutely add up the $250 from the county, plus the $600 from the state, plus another $260 million in all these other things that combine and add up,” she said on Monday.
“We’re paying into a fund for fixing the stadium over time – because I think the deal really adds up to over 1.1 billion.”
“I fundamentally don’t think this was a good idea,” she added.
Krueger revealed even voters from her Upper East Side district have called her office, threatening they won’t vote for her – or Hochul – if the subsidy is approved.
“This has really sort of caught on in the public eye, and they’re like, ‘you’re gonna pour all this state money into something for billionaires that won’t get any return for the people of New York?’ Makes no sense.”
The senator noted that although the stadium deal isn’t causing a hold up in negotiations, she still hasn’t seen a final analysis of how the state will pay for its end of the bargain.
Outside of the Buffalo region, there’s major opposition to the plan — with two-thirds of voters saying they oppose the financing deal in a recent poll.
There’s been growing opposition to public subsidies directed toward billionaires and companies over the last several years – chief among them: the failed Amazon HQ2 deal along the Long Island City waterfront on the East River in Queens.
The Amazon subsidy went up in flames in Feb. 2019 and the company had to withdraw opposition that critics argue don’t need a break on the backs of taxpayers.
When probed why the deal was dropped so late and was privately negotiated, even without the knowledge of key state lawmakers – like the powerful state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester) – Hochul blamed the NFL.
“We didn’t have the exact numbers until the league met on March 28th.
“March 28th is the day that the NFL had their annual meeting to determine their contribution. I can’t control that time… But we had to make sure that we had those numbers locked in and then we put the numbers on the table.”
Meanwhile, Hochul met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell via phone call three times between Nov. and Dec. 2021, according to records of the governor’s public schedules.
The governor met in person with the Pegulas, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and other top state officials in Buffalo, according to the schedules released.
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