Cuomo vs. DiNapoli: A fistfight that matters

The recent slugfest between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Comptroller Tom DiNapoli is good copy. Everybody loves a little name-calling and head-slapping especially when it includes the governor and a possible 2018 gubernatorial opponent. It's just too delicious.

But beyond the black eyes, bruises and speculation, this fight is actually about billions of your dollars.

Round One: DiNapoli audits a bunch of state programs that subsidize businesses with cash, tax abatements or cheap resources like electricity, initiatives that are Cuomo's pride and joy. It's no secret that Cuomo shovels billions of dollars into the private sector better, or in bigger amounts, than almost anyone else. Does it do any good?

DiNapoli: Nope!

On the "Excelsior" program – with over half a billion in tax credits and broken promises on job creation – DiNapoli said the state has been "lowering the bar and giving companies a pass when they fall short of promises. ESD needs to ensure these businesses are not taking advantage of state taxpayers.”

On "Start-Up New York" – the elimination of all state taxes for new companies, with no reliable number on the tax breaks, a ubiquitous $50 million in TV ads, and only 400 jobs created – DiNapoli said the state "spent roughly $25,000 on advertising for each of the jobs the Start-Up NY program is expected to create", there was "a precipitous decline in applications from potential enrollees", and "just 41 businesses have enrolled."

On "ReCharge New York” – a program costing hundreds of millions to retain and create jobs through allocations of low-cost power, but where the job numbers (allegedly 29,800) were wrongly inflated by the state – DiNapoli said the state gave "some applicants advantages over others with higher scores,...NYPA needs to hold all customers to the same rules when verifying job promises and accurately report this information to taxpayers."

Your response, governor?

“I think he’s dead wrong. He should educate himself in the area,” Cuomo said. DiNapoli was "part of the legislature" that created New York's economic problems.

So how do we score the first round? Di Napoli is saying the system is not creating jobs and is therefore a waste of money.

Cuomo is saying DiNapoli's facts are wrong. It appears to be a draw, until better data is available. But better data is available.

The usually subsidy-friendly folks at Crain’s reviewed job creation numbers across the state since 2009. Downstate, which does not benefit proportionally from the subsidy programs, saw a 17 percent increase, about 2 percent a year. Upstate, which gets the lion’s share of the subsidies, saw a total increase of 2 percent. Crain’s conclusion came in the headline: "Andrew Cuomo's Upstate Failure: The Governor Proposed To Revive The Economy And So Far He Hasn't."

The politics are obvious. Until recently, Cuomo's economic policies were right out of the austerity playbook – the sort of supply-side stuff Paul Ryan would love: Cut the income tax for high earners, the bank tax, the estate tax, limit public spending; pump billions into corporate subsidies.

If those policies didn't work, the fundamental Cuomo message is subject to a challenge in 2018. By whom? Well, DiNapoli for one, or Attorney General Eric Schneiderman or perhaps Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner. Or maybe a Republican with brains enough to dump the Republican supply-side mantra and challenge waste in corporate subsidies like they challenge waste in education or social services. Cuomo's ferocious reaction may trigger unfortunate comparisons to another Queens tough guy who disdains civil discourse, but he can't shrug off this kind of data-driven challenge to his basic philosophy.

It would be nice to set the politics aside for a moment and figure out what's going on with our public dollars. The unspoken truism is that public money should be transferred into private hands only when there is a corresponding public benefit. It makes no sense to shovel cash out the door in the name of economic development if there is no economic development.

DiNapoli may be mild-mannered, but it looks like he won't be bullied this time. (Cuomo’s inner circle reportedly refers to him as "chipmunk balls.” You can't make this stuff up, folks.) DiNapoli says he will persist in his audits of economic development programs. If a pattern of data emerges, DiNapoli can shift the conversation away from personalities to fundamental questions worthy of debate now and in the 2018 gubernatorial race: Do "Economic Development" subsidies to business create jobs? How does the public benefit from these programs? What else could we do with the money that might stimulate the economy?

There is a path for Cuomo to take which could get him out of this looming mess. He could actually decide to adopt the sensible foundation of the DiNapoli challenge. He could join in a fair but rigorous assessment of economic development giveaways. The public would love it, and whatever collateral damage might emerge is outweighed by Cuomo's ability to claim the mantle of economic reformer.

It's a natural next step after he challenged the DiNapoli data, he's shown an ability to pivot on economic issues when pressed (see: Wage, Minimum), and he has the tools to do so. How about a real Moreland investigation?

Either way, something's coming. The years of unexamined giveaways to private interests are ending, if only because there are other and better uses of the cash that state leaders covet (see infrastructure). Sometimes ideas matter.

So keep score when the bell rings for Round Two of the Cuomo/DiNapoli match. Count the number of haymakers Cuomo lands, and the number of left jabs DiNapoli lands. But keep on eye on those billions of dollars. It would be nice to put them to work for the state.

Richard Brodsky is a former assemblyman who is in the private practice of law and serves as a senior fellow at both Demos and NYU's Wagner School. He is a regular columnist for the Albany Times Union and The Huffington Post.