The Rockefeller report states that Downstate taxes are being sent to Upstate regions (“The Robin Hood Syndrome,” Editorial, Dec. 22).
We need to improve the Upstate economy. Upstate communities are being strangled by laws, regulations and mandates developed predominantly by Downstate lawmakers that undermine our ability to create jobs.
This doesn’t have to be the case.
There are excellent companies and a workforce ready to make Upstate a success. It’s time middle-class New Yorkers and small-business owners were given the chance to create their own jobs.
If Downstate wants to see a larger contribution from its Upstate neighbors, then it needs to support changes that make that possible.
We need job growth, and we need the government to reduce the cost of construction on both public and private projects. We need a defined and predictable pension system, and no new mandates.
The government needs to allow us to get the economy moving, not our people.
Brian Sampson
Executive Director
Unshackle Upstate
Rochester