As New York weighs a deal to let Tesla renew its lease at a state-owned factory in Buffalo, the electric carmaker is falling short of its job-creation commitments — prompting some state lawmakers to call for penalties.
The state’s contract with Tesla requires the company to employ 3,460 people, according to documents reviewed by Gothamist, and sets a $41.2 million penalty if the company fails to meet its job or investment requirements. Tesla said it had 2,883 qualified employees in New York at the end of last year and “more than 3,000” as of Jan. 31, according to a report filed with state officials on that date.
“They should be fined if they didn’t meet the terms of their agreement, both because that’s fair and because it’s essential for the state of New York to have any credibility in negotiating and enforcing agreements around economic development subsidies,” said Assemblymember Micah Lasher, a Democrat from Manhattan’s Upper West Side…