PICTURED: Gov. Kathy Hochul addressing the June 18 membership meeting on Zoom, with the Local 802 officers at the top along with Chief of Staff Dan Point and AFM President Tino Gagliardi

For my president’s report this month, I want to hand the mic over to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, whom we were honored to host at our June 18 membership meeting on Zoom. Gov. Hochul and the state legislature recently handed musicians a big win in the New York State budget. As we reported in the June issue of Allegro, scoring work for TV and film will now be considered a “qualified cost” for the first time ever under the New York State Film Production Tax Credit program. Producers will be eligible for an extra 10 percent tax credit when 5 or more musicians are hired to score projects. This means that producers are financially incentivized to do their scoring in New York — which could result in more jobs for musicians. The scoring tax credit is a new addition to New York’s other production incentives.

This new provision was a result of major legwork by Local 802 Chief of Staff Dan Point and union officers (including myself, AFM President Tino Gagliardi, Financial Vice President Karen Fisher and Executive Board Member Sara Cutler) who traveled in person to Albany to lobby state legislators and build meaningful relationships.

I thank Gov. Hochul and all of our allies who delivered this tax credit that will help musicians. This new provision has the potential to bring more scoring work to New York, including New York City. It means that more audiences will hear the work of the best musicians in the world. This is a win for musicians, and it also represents Local 802’s growing strength in state politics.

Below is a transcript of our introduction to Gov. Hochul and her remarks. (Any mistakes in the transcription are our own, not the governor’s!)

INTRODUCTION

We are honored to be joined tonight by Gov. Kathy Hochul, a leader who truly understands the value of organized labor and has consistently delivered for working families across the state of New York.

For those of you who may not know the details of her story, Gov. Hochul comes from a working class Irish Catholic family in Buffalo. Her father worked at the Bethlehem Steel plant while attending night school, instilling in her a deep sense of understanding of the struggles and aspirations of working families.

She earned her law degree and then served her community from the Hamburg town board to the Erie County clerk, then as a member of Congress in Western New York and lieutenant governor before becoming New York State’s 57th governor in 2021, the first woman to ever hold this office.

Gov. Hochul has proven herself a true champion of organized labor. She has delivered project labor agreements on major construction projects, strengthened retirement benefits for public employees, and banned non-compete agreements for workers earning below the median wage.

Under her leadership, New York has increased workers compensation benefits, strengthened penalties for wage theft, and protected employees from mandatory political meetings. We at Local 802 are especially grateful for her unwavering support of the arts, a sector that employs thousands of our members. Gov. Hochul has invested unprecedented resources into the arts and cultural sector, awarding over $86 million in capital funding and $62 million in grants to support more than 1,500 organizations and 500 individual artists across our state. From Buffalo to the Bronx and Suffolk County, Gov. Hochul has delivered for working families. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to the 57th governor of New York State, Kathy Hochul.

GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL

I really appreciate the introduction and a chance to speak to all the great members of Local 802. You know, I was thinking about this, you can’t really call yourself the cultural capital of the world without supporting the people who make the culture. And that’s exactly what this union does. You’re really the lifeblood of our whole creative economy. I want to thank two extraordinary leaders who I’ve gotten to know: AFM International President Tino Gagliardi and Local 802 President Bob Suttmann, two great leaders who’ve had a great influence on what we’ve done. Their passion for protecting working musicians was so palpable. They came to Albany and worked so hard. And they work hard for the thousands of musicians Local 802 represents, from Broadway to recording studios and nightclubs and concert halls and everywhere in between.

You really just make our city and our communities so vibrant and fascinating and really inspiring others with your talents. So I want to make sure as governor that you’re supported and empowered. When our musicians thrive, our economy thrives, our communities feel more alive and feel really more connected.

And as you mentioned, that’s why I felt so passionate about making historic investments in the arts and delivering real wins for working musicians.

A couple of big victories in our budget. We increased our film production tax credit to $800 million, one of the highest in the nation. And my objective here is to keep top tier productions and the jobs they create right here in New York because as you know, there’s a lot of competition, whether it’s across the river or above the border into Toronto or down in Georgia. I know the competition that’s out there and I’m very competitive. I want to make sure that we’re always at the top because we are New York and I want to make sure that we have all the productions here.

And that’s why it was so important to incentivize our producers to do their scoring right in New York. They’re getting these benefits. They should be doing the scoring in New York. So productions that hire five or more musicians can qualify for an extra 10 percent tax credit on their scoring cost, and I think that’s going to go a long way, but to me it’s as simple as this: more union jobs, more investment in the recording industry and more music created right here at home. And I thank all of you for fighting to get it done.

And we also expanded the New York City musical and theatrical production credit to $400 million this year — because I know costs are going up and we cannot lose any productions because we’re not being competitive. So I thought that was important as well and that’s how you cement New York as the global capital for live theatre and keep so many jobs here.

For NYSCA (New York State Council on the Arts), I secured over $161 million in funding to support local artists and the emerging talent that we want to nurture and cultivate. So whether it’s the pit orchestra at a Broadway show or a downtown jazz trio or a teaching artist in the classroom, every one of these performances is the product of really great infrastructure and investment and support.

And I’m going to keep showing up for you. Just like you show up for everyday New Yorkers with your talents and make us feel so much better about where we live. And I’ve seen you work up close countless times. I’ve been to so many productions. Yes, that’s me sitting there with my glasses on at the shows! And I’ve seen you in our schools and community centers. And to me, that’s the magic. That’s the magic of what you do every day. And I’m just so proud that we’re working hard. I believe in collective bargaining. I believe in creative labor. And I’ll always be in your corner, because without you, without your music, without your talents, New York would not be New York. And so thank you again, for all you do for us every day and your support. I never take you for granted and am so honored to be your governor. So let’s just keep the music playing.

END OF GOV. HOCHUL’S REMARKS

A FINAL NOTE: NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE

• We recently completed a survey of almost 700 Broadway musicians to solidify our priorities as we move towards our negotiation for a new contract. Stay tuned for more!
• We just achieved new agreements with New York City Opera and Radio City Music Hall where musicians made great gains.