Subject:

Reform IDAs and protect our schools

Dear Legislator,

As a constituent who cares deeply about public education and the financial health of our communities, I urge you to support a package of legislation to reform Industrial Development Agencies (IDAs) and protect funding for our public schools.

For too long, IDAs have operated with little transparency or accountability — granting corporate tax breaks, waiving school taxes and shopping deals across jurisdictions without meaningful input from the schools and taxpayers who bear the cost. Money that should be supporting students, classrooms and essential programs is instead being handed out to corporations — often for projects that would have happened anyway, or for routine renovations and remodeling at established businesses.

Accordingly, I urge you to support the following bills to bring fairness, transparency and accountability to IDA operations:

• S.4464 (Mayer) / A.838 (Solages): Add school board and labor representatives to IDA boards to ensure the voices of those most directly impacted by these decisions are at the table. This bill has passed the Senate and is on third reading in the Assembly.
  
  
• A.4927 (Bronson): Prohibit IDAs from waiving school taxes, ensuring that decisions affecting school district revenue cannot be made unilaterally by an unelected board with no representation from the affected schools.
  
  

Thank you for your consideration of these important issues. I respectfully ask that you bring up this issue with your conference, and I would greatly appreciate a response to this letter.

Sincerely,

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