City & State interviewed Manatt's Bruce Gyory, a senior advisor in the firm's Government and Regulatory Policy practice, for an article on New York's Upstate Revitalization Initiative, which put a large chunk of state development funds on the line for various regions.
City & State reports that critics of the initiative claim the funds are a way for the Cuomo administration to punish or reward regions and lawmakers who have been critical of the administration in the past. Others have suggested the funds may be a ploy for Cuomo to garner support in counties he lost to his Republican opponent in the 2014 gubernatorial election.
"My sense is that it was structured so that the best substance would make for the best politics and I thought it was a rather exquisite set-up by the governor's people," said Gyory. "They have every incentive to make sure the substance is in place, so that means these grants produce economic development gains."