‘That’s a lot of money for a state that still owes the federal government $9 billion to pay for pandemic-related unemployment claims and fights tooth and nail to nickel and dime local governments called upon to carry out the state’s programs. What’s more frustrating is the fact the $850 million taxpayer cost could be a lot less if the state didn’t require payment of prevailing wages on publicly funded construction projects wehre 30% of tradesmen are unionized. The stadium deal then requires both union-level compensation and unionized labor — which limits the work to a minority of the construction trades workers in the Western New York region.’