A vote against changes in Wicks Law
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- April
- 11
Count the Rochester Business Association’s Sandy Parker as a vote against the changes made to the state’s Wicks Law in this year’s state budget.
In a radio interview on Talk-1300 in Albany today, Parker said that the deal shortchanges Upstate.
The Wicks Law has been a thorn on the side of business and local-government leaders for years. It requires four separate contracts on most public-works projects, and drives up the cost by as much a 30 percent, critics say, thereby contributing to the high tax burden in the state.
The change in the law raises the cap on projects that are exempt from $50,000 to $3 million in New York City, $1.5 million in the suburbs and $500,000 Upstate.
That’s the part that bothers Parker.
“Things cost more in New York City, but not six times more,’’ said Parker, also a prime mover in the “Unshackle Upstate’’ alliance of business groups pushing for change in Albany. So most projects Upstate will continue to be subject to the law, and pressure to repeal the law – which Parker and other critics favor – will be lessened.
She also called the nearly 5 percent growth in spending approved by lawmakers this week ‘’unconscionable.’‘
This entry was posted
on Friday, April 11th, 2008 at 9:50 am by Jay Gallagher.
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Jay Gallagher has covered Albany for Gannett News Service since 1984 and has been Albany Bureau chief since 1989. He`s a native of the Boston area and likes to point out that in this millennium, the score is Red Sox 1 championship, the Yankees 0. 
Cara Matthews has been a statehouse correspondent in the Albany Bureau since August 2005. Prior to that, she covered Putnam County government and politics at The Journal News for nearly five years. Before that, she worked at newspapers in Connecticut and covered the state Legislature for one of them. 
