Testimony before the City Council's Economic Development Committee on why the state's economic development program Empire Zones should be eliminated. Based on a research report the CBC published in December 2008, It's Time to End New York State's Empire Zone Program, the CBC argued that the program's mission has been lost, the program's objectives are not measured consistently, local agencies do not hold firms accountable for the economic commitments they make, and the program is failing to meet the targets firms set when they are approved for benefits.