Local economic developers say they’re worried that Michigan isn’t spending enough on incentives to compete in the increasingly expensive fight among the states for jobs and business investment. Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration has ended the state’s practice of handing out expensive business tax credits, which cost the state nearly $1 billion a year, in favor […]
Business recruiters watch changes in Michigan incentives with concern
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
* The New York Times, in a national review of business tax breaks, focused on Michigan’s star-crossed film incentive program: “As the ‘Oz’ shoot was under way, Pontiac moved on to its third emergency manager, Louis Schimmel, and he was not a fan of incentives. A former municipal bond analyst, Mr. Schimmel spent decades warning Michigan […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Congress poised to play 'Scrooge' on food aid to needy Michigan families
By Terri Stangl/Center for Civil Justice With Thanksgiving behind us, people throughout the country are caught up in the mad rush to discover the perfect treasures for their loved ones at the most discounted prices. But deep discounts don’t matter to those who have so little they can’t even buy food. And that’s the case […]
Posted inPeter Luke: Eye on the Capitol
Give Snyder credit for trying to juggle tax changes
After years of thinking up new ways to attract business with special deals, Michigan appears intent on getting out of the big money incentive game by engineering a tax code in which there is little left to abate. Before it was repealed last year, lawmakers had created some 60 exemptions in a Michigan Business Tax […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Interest high in Right to Work; gains unclear
Gov. Rick Snyder has engaged in some shuttle diplomacy in recent days, talking with opponents and supporters of Right to Work, which limits requirements for participation in union activities by employees. RTW is something the governor has repeatedly said is divisive and not on his agenda, yet the idea has been the subject of much […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
State bets big for jobs; gains are expensive
An economic development program created by Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s administration has spent more than $400 million in creating about 2,300 jobs. That’s about $175,000 per job. Rather than kill the program that critics said has a poor job-producing record, Gov. Rick Snyder is expanding the scope of the 21st Century Jobs Fund. The Jobs Fund […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Job-creation push spawns flurry of numbers, opinions
Comparing various kinds of economic development initiatives for their impact on jobs and economic growth often isn’t easy. And that’s especially true for two primary incentive programs Michigan has used in recent years; the Michigan Economic Growth Authority and the 21st Century Jobs Fund. MEGA was a fairly straightforward tax credit program used from 1995 […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Governors run after companies, waving dollars
Governors can’t resist using their economic development agencies to try to pick business winners and losers in the economy, even when they say they are opposed to doing so. Gov. James Blanchard bankrolled efforts to grow biotechnology and advanced manufacturing industries in the state, with mixed results. His successor, Gov. John Engler, heavily invested in […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Handel’s ‘Messiah’ always gets one jazzed for the holiday season
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare Is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness; prepare ye the way of The Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. *** […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Mining tax could spur more U.P. mining
State lawmakers and Gov. Rick Snyder are poised to approve a new tax structure on metallic mining operations that could spur development of new mines — like the controversial Eagle Mine near Marquette — across the western Upper Peninsula. The state House of Representatives, on Nov. 29, approved legislation authorizing a 2.75 percent severance tax […]