Valley Stream, NY – Assemblywoman Michaelle C. Solages announced Governor Cuomo signed her legislation requiring all Industrial Development Agencies in New York State to live stream meetings relating to agreements for a payment in lieu of taxes, to record such meetings and to make the recordings available on the webpage of the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) or the local municipality.

“In the spirit of transparency and accountability, I authored this piece of legislation to enable IDAs to increase their civic engagement as well as effectively communicate their message to residents. While constituents may want to attend every governmental meeting, they cannot always be physically present to do so,” explained Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages.

"I am extremely grateful to my State Legislator Michaelle Solages for introducing a bill that will require the IDA's to live stream all meetings. Shining a light on the IDA's will help residents understand how Payments in Lieu of Taxes (Pilots) impact our communities,” said Valley Stream resident Margaret Zydor.

Assembly Bill A. 03002- would require agencies to record and live stream all meetings during which an agreement for a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT agreement) is proposed, debated, voted upon, reviewed or appealed. Such recordings shall be made available on the agency's website within five business days of the meeting. In the event that the agency does not have a separate website, the recordings shall be made available on the local municipality's website. All such recordings shall be maintained for a period of not less than five years.

“Our top priority should be to drive economic development while ensuring transparency and engagement with the local community. I want to thank the community of Valley Stream for their advocacy on this issue, and I would like to commend Governor Cuomo for signing this bill into law,” stated Assemblymember Michaelle C. Solages.