Cuomo Defends State Jobs Program Amid Complaints Of Poor Performance

ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo defended his beleaguered START-UP NY jobs program Wednesday by saying it has cost taxpayers ``nothing'' -- even though New York has already spent $53 million promoting it with television and radio commercials.

Cuomo's remarks to reporters came after a state report quietly released before the 4th of July weekend found that Start-Up had has created only 408 jobs since its creation in 2013.

START-UP uses tax-free zones at colleges and universities to attract companies. The report found that 76 jobs were created in 2014, START-UP 's first full year, and another 332 last year.

``It costs us nothing,'' he said. ``Zero.''

The state has so far spent $53 million on television and radio advertisements to tout the program. But Cuomo dismissed those on Wednesday as being ``generic'' advertisements that promoted the state's overall business climate -- even though they mentioned the START-UP program by name.

``The quote-unquote START-UP ads are really generic,'' he said.

Cuomo said the program is one of several designed to jumpstart the state's economy, particularly upstate. He said it's reasonable to expect that START-UP will need time before paying off because of the nature of start-up businesses.

``We just started the program,'' he said. ``There is a lag time.''

The report released Friday evening said 159 companies are now participating in START-UP. They and their employees have so far received $1.19 million in tax benefits while investing $13 million in the economy.

CBS2's Tony Aiello reported on the tardy – and then still absent – report on START-UP NY last month. At that time Ken Girardin of the Empire Center said the lateness of the report might reflect bad news.

"I think if the numbers were anything better than abysmal, we would have heard them by now," he said.

Former state Assemblyman Richard Brodsky agreed last month. But he said the issue with START-UP NY went beyond a tardy annual report.

"The report will come out when it comes out," Brodsky said last month. "The problem that they're really having is that there's a growing awareness that these sorts of giveaways do not create jobs and employment; that they have not worked to do the very thing that they're set up to do."

Several Republican lawmakers say the lackluster jobs numbers -- compared to the large investments in advertising -- show START-UP should be shuttered.

``With this amount of funding, we could have helped real job creators in our state: small-business owners,'' said Assemblyman Dean Murray, a Long Island Republican. ``It's time that we stop funding this political ploy, stop with headline grabbing gimmicks and start investing in real, sound economic policy designed to help businesses succeed and grow.''