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 […]
State bets big for jobs; gains are expensive
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 […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
“It is not power that corrupts, but fear; fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it, and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it” — Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese democracy activist and Noble Prize winner. * How well does Michigan do versus other states in public investing? […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Schools struggle to pass digital test
Two years from now, hundreds of thousands of Michigan students will be expected to go online to take computerized statewide math, language arts and other standardized tests that now are conducted with paper and pencils. The benefits include quicker results for school districts, tests that more accurately track what individual students know and longer test […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Proposed changes to state loan program could limit schools' ability to buy tech
Michigan school districts are vying for $50 million in state money for technology – the first such investment by the state in about a dozen years. Yet, at the very same time, school leaders are watching warily as legislation that could make it harder for them to borrow money to make technology investments may get […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Snyder tries again on cut for business equipment tax
In the final weeks of the legislative year, the Snyder administration is pressing ahead with a plan to cut a tax on business equipment by attempting to appease two groups: local governments that count on that money to pay for services, and business groups that claim the levy is a job killer. With a set […]
Posted inPeter Luke: Eye on the Capitol
Blue Cross getting quite a deal at Capitol
Spend more than $500,000 on lobbying and write nearly $1.2 million in PAC checks in an election cycle, the chances are pretty good that the post-election lame duck legislation you’re seeking is going to be delivered in pretty much the form you expect. So it’s been relatively smooth sailing for Blue Cross Blue Shield of […]