Budget Talks Going On, But Film/TV Rebate Looks Solid
BY JOHN TOSCANO

Pataki is a lame duck whose term ends at the end of this year. He's not running for re-election, so he doesn't have much of a weapon to use against Silver at left, and Bruno at right

While Governor George Pataki, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno are in the middle of negotiations on the 2006-2007 state budget, one item they will not have to deal with is the film and television industry's successful tax rebate program for shows filmed in New York City.

The state legislature included the tax rebate in the budget it passed overwhelmingly last Friday. The governor has said he favored the program so it's not likely he would veto it. If he did, it would easily be overridden.

The tax break program for film and television productions shot in the city has been very successful in bringing business to Silvercup Studios in Long Island City and Kaufman Astoria Studios in Astoria, among other locations in the city. The owners of those facilities were urging state and city leaders to extend the rebate, and they got their wish.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg was not so eager to continue with the city's share of the program because it has been so successful that the $50 million the Bloomberg Administration allotted for it over a four-year period was used up in 13 months. The mayor wanted to do some tinkering with it to make the city's funds go a little farther.

The state legislature also voted to expand the program to include production of commercials along with everything else that gets filmed in the city.

The funding for the approved plan was also increased appreciably, so that $60 million in state funds will go into the program instead of the $25 million initially appropriated. The legislature's action also calls for the city's share of the program to be $30 million instead of the $12.5 million it put up originally.

The city still has the option of continuing in the program or deciding to leave it, but leaving doesn't seem likely.

Assemblymember Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) was ecstatic over the expansion of the program by the state legislature. A strong advocate of the effort from the start, Gianaris greeted the good news, saying: "Our priority this year was to make certain that the gains made by the movie and TV industry in Astoria and Long Island City would continue.

"Since the program started, Western Queens has seen substantial job growth and economic gains in many small businesses and local stores. We took a dying industry and made it one of the most active and thriving sectors in the country."

State Senator George Onorato (D-Astoria) also strongly supported the legislature's budget action.

"We were on board with this program from the start because of the two major studios in our area, [Kaufman] Astoria Studios and Silvercup, and it brought lots of business here and elsewhere in the city," Onorato said. "Why stop when you've got a good thing going?"

Other supporters of the program included state Senator Frank Padavan (R-C-Bellerose), Assemblymember Catherine Nolan (D-Ridgewood), and Councilmembers David Weprin (D-Hollis), council Finance Committee chairman, and Tony Avella (D-Bayside).

The next move is up to the governor-to add his approval to the state legislature's action-and to Bloomberg, to either opt in or out of the successful program.

Meanwhile, the governor, Silver and Bruno started negotiations on Monday and are making some progress, but some thorny points still separate them.

The basic issues facing the three state leaders are the budget, which passed by the state legislature totals about $112.4 billion, as opposed to the governor's proposed budget of about $110.6 billion, roughly $2 billion less. In effect, Silver and Bruno spent the state's $2 billion surplus.

The major items in the legislature's budget that Pataki must confront are $11.2 billion appropriated for Bloomberg's school construction program and a $4.1 billion tax cut package, some of which the governor called for in his budget.

Another huge difference of opinion between the two sides is the governor's Medicaid reform program, which the legislative leaders completely ignored in their budget, leaving it at a $46 billion appropriation level.

If the governor decides to play hardball in the ongoing talks, the situation could get ugly, but he is at a disadvantage because Silver and Bruno, who head the legislative bodies which have members up for re-election this year, have the votes to override any Pataki vetoes. Bruno, especially, needs the tax cuts that were put in the budget because they're designed to re-elect Republican senators, thus preserving the slight GOP majority in the senate.

On the other hand, Pataki is a lame duck whose term ends at the end of this year. He's not running for re-election, so he doesn't have much of a weapon to use against Silver and

Bruno.