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Two dozen major unions, education associations, school funding advocates, and government watchdog groups gathered today in the State Capitol to call for the passage of state legislation stopping local Industrial Development Authorities (IDAs) from diverting tax revenue that would otherwise go to schools.

We write to express our strong support for a bill introduced in both houses, S89 (Ryan) / A351 (Bronson), which prohibits Industrial Development Authorities from abating property taxes that would otherwise fund public schools….

Advocates for reforming New York’s system of granting tax breaks to support business growth and job development took their case to Albany on Wednesday, arguing that abatements authorized by local industrial development agencies harm local schools and education…

Education leaders and advocates are backing new legislation that they say could bring more than $1.8 billion in tax dollars back to school districts…

Representatives of unions, education associations, school funding advocates and government watchdog groups gathered in the State Capitol today to call for the passage of legislation, pending in both chambers of the State Legislature, that seeks to prohibit industrial development agencies from abating school district taxes…

School districts across New York are losing out on billions of dollars in revenue because of tax breaks. A coalition is pushing for reforms that stalled in the Legislature last year.

$11 billion. Imagine how many school books that amount of money could buy. How many teachers and mental health professionals could school districts hire. How many nursing home workers and home-healthcare aides it could entice to work in the state…

This week at the Capitol, we’ve heard about a push for universal free lunches, we’ve heard from lawmakers hoping to put new restrictions on IDAs giving tax breaks, and Gov. Kathy Hochul awarded $100 million for 50 school districts and BOCES to address pandemic learning loss, all as key players continue to express concerns about the governor’s proposal to end a policy known as “Save Harmless.”