Amazon recently has spent more than its large tech rivals—roughly $60,000 per month—on swaying public officials in New York, records show. The tech giant’s lobbying activity includes Hochul and at least 20 legislators on more than a dozen pending bills, according to the filings.
“They have a platoon of lobbyists throughout the country and in New York,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). “What they want to do is buy influence and hire everybody they can.”
Amazon’s playbook in New York and other states includes reminding officials of the jobs and economic activity their constituents could lose if the company weren’t located there, according to legislators and industry insiders. That approach has helped the company score legislative wins in other states, but challenges loom in New York ahead of a potentially big year for tech issues in Albany.
Amazon remains targeted by labor unions, activists, and legislators to a degree unlike any other tech company in New York, which has the highest unionization rate in the nation besides Hawaii.
“It’s like Freddy Krueger, Jason. And then it’s Amazon as far as like scary,” said Theodore Moore, executive director of the Alliance for a Greater New York, a progressive group backed by the AFL-CIO and RWDSU. The groups is fighting the company over a bill (AB 3309) to increase benefits for warehouse workers hurt on the job.
Lobbying filings by Amazon and its political consultants list a litany of bills on next year’s agenda that could affect the tech giant’s bottom lines, including legislation targeting tech monopolies (SB 6748) consumer data collection (SB 365B), and AI-created products sold online (AB 8098).
Hochul also plans to unveil a comprehensive policy plan for artificial intelligence—another subject of Amazon lobbying—in the proposed state budget due in January. She recently told Bloomberg Law her “number one” priority with AI is bringing related jobs to the Empire State.
Amazon has a long record of fighting state-level regulation and calling for Congress to take action instead.
This includes a successful 2021 effort to sink a California bill (AB 1262) that would have required consumers give consent before businesses can sell data collected by smart speakers. The bill passed the legislature the following year, and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vetoed it.
Amazon also pushed states like Virginia to abandon the idea of empowering individuals rather than state attorneys general to sue tech companies that violate privacy laws, Reuters reported that year.
The company appears to be urging a similarly light touch in New York, leveraging its economic effect. Amazon “invested $30 billion” in the state since 2010 while creating 41,000" jobs, said spokeswoman Heather Layman in a statement.
“Given our commitment to New York, our policy team is focused on ensuring we are advocating on issues that are important to policymakers, our employees and our customers,” said Layman.
‘Blew Up in Their Face’
The company has yet to escape the political fallout from a failed 2018 deal to locate its second headquarters in Queens, which Amazon abandoned following criticism of its labor record and billions of dollars in tax breaks it sought.
Amazon displayed a “shocking” lack of political tact by entrusting hired lobbyists, rather than its own officials, to lead the charge in its proposed expansion, said political consultant Matt Wing, who worked for
“Amazon didn’t have a single person in New York,” said Wing. “If you’re dealing with the market as important as New York or an initiative as important as your second headquarters, you want your own staff members who understand your company and how to get things through.”
A key source of opposition came from elected officials like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D). Critics gained leverage over the deal when state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D) recommended Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris (D) of Queens for a seat on an obscure state panel that had an effective veto over the project. Gianaris was a leading skeptic of the Amazon bid.
“They believed they made a deal with Andrew Cuomo and the rest would take care of itself,” said Gianaris in a recent interview, referring to the governor at the time. “Obviously, it blew up in their face.”
Lessons Learned
Amazon has “done more and more to actually integrate itself into the city and the state in a really productive way” since the second headquarters debacle, said Julie Samuels, president of Tech:NYC, whose members include Amazon and other major tech companies.
Lobbying records suggest the company is using a friendly approach with lawmakers ahead of the 2024 legislative session.
The company in November reported working with Manhattan Assemblymember Grace Lee (D) on a prospective program to install its Ring cameras to boost safety in public housing projects in New York City.
State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (D) of Staten Island said the company appeared eager to establish a rapport following her election in 2022. “I think they just wanted to be like: ‘Hey, this is what we do. We’re Amazon. This is who we are in the community,’” said Scarcella-Spanton (D). The freshman senator represents Staten Island, where warehouse workers last year voted to form the first Amazon union of its kind.
Not everyone is on Amazon’s contact list. The company has no relationship with Gianaris—one of the most powerful legislators in the state—or Senate Labor Chair Jessica Ramos (D), who both said they haven’t heard from the company in recent years.
New York lawmakers like Assemblymember Jonathan Rivera (D) of Buffalo—who Amazon reported lobbying in recent months—told Bloomberg Law that he has seen a more cooperative side from Amazon during discussions of low-profile matters like tax breaks provided by local industrial development agencies.
“They’re polite enough,” said Rivera. “They’re cordial enough.”
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