PRESS RELEASE
January 8, 2008

Majority Turns Down Call for Unfair Wicks Law Change

The majority of the Rensselaer County Legislature rejected a resolution advanced by the Democratic minority for changes to the Wicks Law, with Republican legislators saying the changes were unfair to upstate New York.

In fact, majority legislators said the Wicks Law changes favored by the Assembly could actually hamper economic development and revitalization efforts in upstate.

“This is phony reform and would actually increase the Wicks Law burden upstate. That would definitely be a step in the wrong direction,” said Legislator Martin Reid.

The Wicks Law requires specialized bidding, hiring of separate contractors and other potentially costly provisions for public projects. Majority legislators took issue with the exemption amount. For New York City projects, the exemption threshold is $3 million, while for upstate the threshold is only $500,000.

The director of one upstate business partnership said the change is “somewhere between inadequate and insulting to upstate”.

“This is a change that would only benefit New York City, and I am tired of seeing New York City get favored treatment over upstate New York,” said Legislator Alex Shannon.

Majority legislators said the threshold for exemption should be the same upstate as downstate. Republican legislators said they plan on introducing legislation next month advocating for fairness.

“There should be a level playing field between upstate and downstate. We opposed this legislation because it gives downstate too much of an advantage,” said Legislator Ken Herrington.

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