Two Campaigns, One Question: What Is Your Plan for Western New York’s Economy?

Change Buffalo PAC Committee Report | October 19, 2026

The Situation

New Yorkers will choose a governor on November 3. Few decisions matter more to Western New York’s economy. Albany authorizes local sales taxes, sets the rules for property taxes, helps fund Metro Rail and oversees state highways like Route 33. Yet voters rarely hear specific plans for this region.

Change Buffalo PAC does not endorse or oppose candidates. This report is a nonpartisan request to both campaigns for governor: publish a specific, written economic plan for Western New York before Election Day.

The stakes are clear in the numbers. The Buffalo Niagara Partnership’s 2026 Prosperity Report ranks the region 13th of 13 peer metros in housing permits and in business applications per capita, and finds that average wages fell 2.4 percent from 2020 to 2025 while U.S. wages grew 2.7 percent. Our Prosperity Report analysis has more detail.

What It Means for the Change Buffalo Agenda

Our Turnaround Agenda depends on state action as much as local action. These are the questions we are asking both campaigns to answer, in writing and in detail:

1. Housing supply

• What specific steps would you take to increase home building in Western New York, where permits per existing home rank last among peer regions?
• Would you support state incentives or requirements for local zoning that allows more homes by right, like our Build Buffalo Homes proposal?

2. Permitting

• How would you shorten state environmental and permitting reviews for housing, infill and infrastructure projects, while protecting public input?
• Would you commit to published state review deadlines, in the spirit of our Permit Clock?

3. The sales tax and the property tax

• The State authorization for Erie County’s additional 1.75 percent sales tax expires November 30, 2027, and renewal requires state approval (our county budget report). Would you tie renewals to reforms such as shared services and levy limits, as our Reform Before Renewal campaign proposes?
• What would you do to lower the property tax burden on Western New York homeowners and businesses, including state mandates on counties and school districts?

4. Regional transit, including Metro Rail and Route 33

• The Metro Rail extension to Amherst has completed federal environmental review, with construction planned for 2029-2033 once funding is identified. Will you commit state funding to match a federal grant, and on what timeline?
• NYSDOT has restarted the Route 33 Kensington Expressway environmental review with all options open. Will you ensure a full Humboldt Parkway fill-in alternative is studied with the same depth as other options, and keep the Scajaquada study on a defined schedule? (See our reports on Metro Rail and Route 33.)

5. Economic development reform

• Would you support consolidating Western New York’s industrial development agencies into one accountable regional agency, as in One Region, One IDA?
• Would you require every state economic development award in the region to be published online with job and investment commitments and clawbacks?

These questions are not tests of party or ideology. They are the decisions that will determine whether the region’s comeback becomes a boom.

What Members Can Do

1. Ask the questions. At candidate forums, town halls or debates, use the questions above. Ask both campaigns the same ones.
2. Share this report with neighbors, community groups and local media, and ask them to press both campaigns for written answers.
3. Make sure you can vote. Check your registration at voterlookup.elections.ny.gov. Registration forms must be received by October 24. Early voting runs October 24 to November 1, and Election Day is November 3. For polling places, contact the Erie County Board of Elections, 134 West Eagle Street, Buffalo, (716) 858-8891.
4. Join our Neighborhood Captains through our Get Involved page, or contact us.

Change Buffalo PAC does not endorse or oppose any candidate.