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Show Us the Stimulus: An Evaluation of State Government Recovery Act Websites
July 29, 2009
In a new report Good Jobs First evaluates the quality of disclosure on the websites set up by state governments to educate the public about the flow of funds from the federal stimulus act. [Report, press release and appendices].
STAR Coalition and Recovery Act Info Center
May 26, 2009
Good Jobs First today announced the launch of States for a Transparent and Accountable Recovery (STAR Coalition). The organization is designed to encourage efforts at the state level to make the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act transparent, accountable, fair and effective. The STAR Coalition has its own website, which includes the Recovery Act Info Center with extensive material on the Act and the way it is being implemented.
The South's Recovery:
Making it Accountable and Green
Will the $787 billion Recovery Act create good jobs and a stronger Southern economy? Join activists on April 30th in Atlanta to explore opportunities to build a more accountable recovery in the South. For more information click here.
The latest from our Clawback blog:
April 13, 2009
In "Audit of DC's CAPCO Program Reveals Few Jobs Created," Leigh McIlvaine writes about the poor results of the District of Columbia's Certified Capital Companies (CAPCO) Program, which created only 31 jobs since 2004.
In New York, Allison Lack brings attention to the recently published on-line database that exposes taxpayer losses from the state's broken Empire Zone subsidy program. See "Post-Standard Database Sheds Light on Empire Zone 'Winners'."
The latest from our Clawback blog:
April 6, 2009
In "Questionable Projects Promoted for Stimulus Funding in New York," Allison Lack brings attention to two projects - the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn and a "South Bronx Development Initiative" - that have appeared on a list of possible uses of federal Recovery Act funds. The Brooklyn project has already received hundreds of million in taxpayer subsidies while the Bronx project does not appear to serve the best interest of local residents.
In other news, Chicago Aldermen - Manny Flores and Scott Waguespack - have proposed creating an online disclosure system on projects receiving Tax Increment Financing. While no one testified against this reform for more transparency, the economic development subcommittee chair tabled it. See Jeff McCourt's "Chicago Aldermen Want a Brighter Light on City's TIF Spending."
The latest from our Clawback blog:
March 2, 2009
With the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Phil Mattera writes about the formation of the Coalition for an Accountable Recovery (co-chaired by Good Jobs First and OMB Watch), which will promote maximum transparency and accountability for the $787 billion spending plan. See "Millions of Eyeballs on the Recovery Act."
At the state level, two dozen advocacy groups, led by Common Cause/New York, have come together in New York State to form a coalition (including Good Jobs New York) demanding full transparency for stimulus funds in the Empire State. See Bettina Damiani's "New York Advocates to 'Drill Down' on where Federal Stimulus Money Goes."
In "NYC 'Venture'ing Into Incentives For Wall Street's Down and Out," Bettina brings attention to a new program that will use public money to assist laid-off Wall Street-types, but she argues that the City should not ignore other unemployed New Yorkers who are not associated with the financial sector.
In other news, Caitlin Lacy blogs about the release of a new report from the West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy that argues for better public disclosure of subsidies and better job creation/ quality reporting. See "Money for Nothing."
In "SunCal Shines No Light on New Mexico Lobbying Expenditure," Leigh McIlvaine writes about charges that this giant developer has failed to comply with state lobbying disclosure laws while spending large sums of money seeking to build support for $690 million in subsidies for its big project on the outskirts of Albuquerque.
Report: Green Jobs are Not Always Good Jobs
Feburary 3, 2009
As the federal government prepares to spend billions of dollars promoting the creation of green jobs as part of the huge economy recovery bill, a new report from Good Jobs First warns that the jobs already being created in climate-friendly sectors of the economy do not always measure up in terms of wages and other terms of employment. The report, entitled High Road or Low Road? Job Quality in the New Green Economy, was commissioned by Change to Win, the Sierra Club, and the Teamsters and Laborers unions. [Full report] [Press release]
The latest from our Clawback blog:
February 2, 2009
In "Messing with Subsidies in Texas," Leigh McIlvaine discusses two proposed charter amendments coming up for a vote in Dallas that would require public approval of major economic development deals.
Caitlin Lacy writes about a new report from the East-West Gateway Council of Governments that contains a devastating critique of policies such as tax increment financing. See "Report Calls Endless Tax Incentives for Retail Expansion A Losing Strategy for St. Louis."
The latest from our Clawback blog:
January 26, 2009
The Obama Administration wasted no time in moving toward more open government, writes Phil Mattera in "Transparent Intentions." In addition to loosening restrictions on the release of government documents, the Administration is pushing an economic recovery bill that has unprecedented disclosure and accountability provisions.
Despite a torrent of criticism, officials in New York have given the Yankees and the Mets access to yet more tax-exempt financing for their new stadiums. This brings the total to more than $1 billion for the Yankees and over $600 million for the Mets. See Allison Lack's "New York Baseball Teams' Win Is Taxpayers' Loss."
In "Cooper Tire's Novel Approach to Subsidy Competition: Pay to Survive," Jeff McCourt writes how the company extracted over $66 million in subsidies as well as wage and benefit concessions by pitting its four U.S. plants and their respective state and local governments against each other when it announced that one of the facilities would have to be shut down.
The latest from our Clawback blog:
December 22, 2008
Leigh McIlvaine discusses the drawbacks of proposed legislation in New Jersey that would largely deregulate the state's tax increment financing districts (known as Revenue Allocation Districts). See "RAD-ical TIF Deregulation a Cause for Concern in NJ."
In "Smoking Gun found in NYS Investigation of New Yankee Stadium," Bettina Damiani writes about the latest revelations concerning alleged collusion between New York City officials and the Yankees to inflate the value of the land under the new stadium to allow for a higher volume of tax-free bond financing.
In "Foreign Auto Plants Received $3.6 Billion in Subsidies, Mostly from Southern States," Greg LeRoy points out that Toyota, Nissan and the other foreign carmakers operating in the U.S. have received substantial aid from state governments.
Uncle Sam's Rusty Toolkit
November 20, 2008
The advent of the Obama Administration presents an opportunity to reform federal economic development policy using innovations that have been pioneered at the state and local levels. Goods Jobs First provides a framework for that process in a new report called Uncle Sam's Rusty Toolkit, which is being released together with the AFL-CIO, Change to Win, Green for All, the National Employment Law Project, and the Partnership for Working Families. [press release] [full report]
"Skimming" the Sales Tax
November 18, 2008
A new report from Good Jobs First reveals that retailers in 26 states are being allowed to "skim" more than $1 billion a year as compensation for collecting sales taxes on behalf of state and local governments. The biggest impact is felt in the 13 of those states that put no ceiling on the amount of compensation any given retail company can receive, thus giving a windfall to the likes of Wal-Mart. [press release] [full report]
The latest from our Clawback blog:
November 12, 2008
In "The Grey Lady Wakes up to the New Yankee and Mets Stadiums," Bettina Damiani notes that the New York Times has finally taken a substantive look at the way in which taxpayers are helping to pay for new homes for New York's two major league baseball teams (an issue Good Jobs New York has been monitoring for more than three years).
Bettina also reports on a victory for New York taxpayers in her post "Check Please! Yankees Forced to Pay $11 Million After GJNY Inspired Audit."
Along with choosing a new President, a new Congress and filling other key offices, voters last week passed judgment on various ballot measures, some of them relating to tax and economic development issues. Leigh McIlvaine gives details in "State and Local Ballot Initiatives Round-Up."
In other news, Phil Mattera describes the growing debate over retail giveaways in a Southern city. See "Retail Subsidies Questioned in Alabama."
The latest from our Clawback blog:
October 6, 2008
In CBA Moves Forward in Pittsburgh, Sarah VonEsch reports on the progress of the community benefits agreement negotiated by the One Hill CBA Coalition, one of whose key members is Pittsburgh UNITED, a chapter of the Partnership for Working Families. The CBA, which covers a new arena being built for the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team and the redevelopment of the team's old arena, includes provisions that will help residents of the Hill District obtain jobs in the projects.
In the wake of the House of Representatives' initial rejection of the Bush Administration's bailout plan, Phil Mattera looked at the unusual collection of free-market-loving Republicans, fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats and progressives who voted against the bill. He wondered whether such an alliance might help to deal with huge corporate subsidy giveaways at the state and local level as well. See The Strange-Bedfellows Uprising.
The latest from our Clawback blog:
September 29, 2008
In "Super TIF" EATs Kansas City Alive!, Leigh McIlvaine brings attention to an extreme form of tax increment financing used in a city that is wild about TIF. With Super TIFs, development projects can be financed by 100 percent of the property tax increment as well as 100 percent of the increment in the economic activity tax (EAT, which includes sales taxes and various other levies).
Allison Lack reports that top legislators in New York are reaching bipartisan consensus on the need to dramatically reform or eliminate the state's wasteful Empire Zone program. The question of what should replace the program is, however, still far from resolved. See An EZ Pass to EZ Reform.
In Obama or McCain Better for Cities?, Greg LeRoy highlights a new column by Neal Peirce that analyzes the urban policy track records and platforms of the presidential candidates.
The latest from our Clawback blog:
September 22, 2008
A recent legislative audit conducted by the state of Kansas revealed that the $1.3 billion being spent on state and local economic development subsidies produces limited job growth and does nothing to increase per capita wage growth. Jeff McCourt blogs that, despite these findings, Kansas continues to enact new subsidy programs. See Kansas Auditors Find Inflated Job Claims, Tiny Impact for $1.3 Billion.
In A Short Circuit in Florida, Leigh McIlvaine writes about the controversy over secret economic development deals in the Sunshine State. Jabil Circuit, which recently received $35 million through one such deal, went on to announce that it will eliminate 120 jobs.
The controversy over the public financing being used by the New York Yankees for their new stadium is growing more intense. Bettina Damiani reports, in Legislative Umpires Call Yankees Out, on the latest Congressional hearing on the issue, during which Rep. Dennis Kucinich suggested that the owners of the team may have been less than fully honest in their statements to the federal government.
The latest from our Clawback blog:
September 15, 2008
Foreign companies planning to open new factories are amazed at the tax breaks and other giveaways they are being offered these days by state governments in the U.S. Phil Mattera notes that foreign executives are not likely to pass up the subsidies, but they would probably be investing in the U.S. anyway, given the weak dollar. State officials should show more restraint. See Throwing Money at Foreign Companies.
In Will North Caroline Have Nothing to Show for Its Dell Subsidies?, Sarah VonEsch discusses reports that Dell is considering shutting down or selling all its assembly plants. This would be especially problematic for North Carolina, which gave Dell a subsidy deal worth more than $250 million in 2004 for an assembly plant in Winston-Salem.
In After 65 Years, Union Insurers Will Leave the Big Apple, Bettina Damiani blogs that Amalgamated Life Insurance's decision to move its headquarters out of New York City to the suburbs not only highlight the problem of competition among localities but also the trend of moving jobs farther away from public transit.
The latest from our Clawback blog:
September 8, 2008
Phil Mattera examines the array of issues raised by the announcement that the city of Flint, Michigan will subsidize a General Motors engine plant for the company's planned plug-in electric car. Clean-energy vehicles are something to support, but it seems odd that a struggling city has to underwrite a project by one of the world's largest corporations that will create no new jobs. See Who's Subsidizing the Electric Car?
In The Golden State Goes Greener, Leigh McIlvaine reports on a pathbreaking bill approved by the California legislature to tie land-use decisions to greenhouse gas emissions. The bill, which will curb sprawl and encourage smart growth, is awaiting the signature of Gov. Schwarzenegger.
Sarah VonEsch blogs about the recent step by the City Council of Portage, Indiana to strengthen its subsidy clawback policy - by keeping the provision in effect for five years after subsidies expire. See Indiana City Enacts Clawbacks Extending Past Tax Abatement Period.
The latest from our Clawback blog:
September 1, 2008
In A Boost for Prevailing Wages in Ohio, Leigh McIlvaine reports on Gov. Strickland's plans to mandate wider use of the state's prevailing wage rule for privately-financed projects that also involve some public funding such as bonds, grants and loans (but not tax abatements, tax credits or job training grants).
In Maybe Some Subsidies for MLB Are Not Meant to Be, Allison Lack provides another example of how subsidies are not usually the key factor in development deals. Specifically, Allison discusses the uncertainty surrounding the plan by Major League Baseball to relocate (with $5 million in tax breaks promised by New York City) its MLB Network to an office tower planned for East Harlem.
The latest from our Clawback blog:
August 11, 2008
Sarah VonEsch reports about a recent accountable development victory in New Jersey. At the urging of the Garden State Alliance for a New Economy, local officials have included job quality standards and affordable housing requirements in the plan for a massive redevelopment project in Bayonne. See Accountable Development Victory in New Jersey: Major Project to Include Housing and Job Quality Standards.
Jeff McCourt reports, in Leading Indiana Business Journal Call for Halt to Subsidy "Charade," about a rising chorus of criticism of development subsidies that are paying firms to jump from one location in the Indianapolis area to another.
In Big Breaks for the Big Boys, Allison Lack discusses how New York has been providing property tax breaks for the chain stores that are proliferating in the city and threatening the survival of many small businesses.
The latest from our Clawback blog:
August 4, 2008
In A New Controversey at the New Yankee Stadium, Bettina Damiani discusses reports that New York City officials artificially inflated the value of the land on which the new ballpark is being built so that the team could receive a larger amount of tax-free financing.
Leigh McIlvaine, in her piece Denver Adopts Job Quality Standards for TIF!, credits labor-backed groups such as FRESC and the Prevailing Wage Committee for getting the Denver Urban Renewal Authority to impose job quality standards for construction work done on projects in the city funded by tax increment financing.
In Take the Money and Run, Phil Mattera discusses the varied reactions to the announcement that Hynix Semiconductor, which received some $66 million in property tax abatements from the city of Eugene, Oregon, is leaving town and eliminating more than 1,000 jobs.
ONLINE ARCHIVE OF GOOD JOBS FIRST CONFERENCE NOW AVAILABLE
June 9, 2008
Reclaiming Economic Development III, the Good Jobs First national conference, was held on May 7 and 8 outside Baltimore. A online conference archive, containing the full agenda and links to many speaker presentations, is now available here. Video excerpts from the event are still in the works.
ANNOUNCING CLAWBACK.ORG - A BLOG OF GOOD JOBS FIRST
March 12, 2008
We are pleased to announce our new blog called CLAWBACK. We chose the name partly because clawbacks (steps taken by governments to recoup subsidies from companies that don't deliver on job promises) are one of our favorite accountability reforms. Yet we also like to think of ourselves as part of a movement that is "clawing back" in a broader sense: making economic development once again serve the common good rather than narrow private interests. CLAWBACK, which already has more than a dozen posts, is being written by the staff of Good Jobs First and our affiliates: Good Jobs New York, Good Jobs Illinois and the Corporate Research Project.
GJF article on "TIF, Greenfields and Sprawl"
February 4, 2008
Good Jobs First today released a new in-depth article about the nation's most controversial kind of economic development subsidy: tax increment financing. The article, entitled "TIF, Greenfields and Sprawl," has just been published in Planning and Environmental Law, a journal of the American Planning Association. The article includes a segment on the notorious TIF dispute currently taking place in New Mexico, where radical TIF deregulation threatens to undermine funding for state and local public services.
States Graded on Transparency, Urged to Do More to Expand Web-based Disclosure
November 15, 2007
The Corporate Research Project of Good Jobs First evaluates the quantity and quality of state government Web-based disclosure on economic development subsidies, procurement contracts and state lobbying activities. The study finds signs of improvement but concludes that states have a long way to go to fulfill the potential of the Internet in enhancing the public's right to know.
[Full report] [Press release] [Executive Summary] [State appendices and other supplementary online material]
Wal-Mart Seeks to Reduce Tax Payments that Support Public Schools
October 10, 2007
This first-ever investigation of Wal-Mart's local property tax records finds that the retail giant systematically seeks to minimize its payment of taxes that support public schools and other vital local government services. That is the key finding of Rolling Back Property Tax Payments, a report released today by Good Jobs First. [Full report] [Press release] [Online appendices with lists of storesand distribution centersexamined.]
Mall Operator has Received over $200 million in Subsidies and Tax Savings
August 29, 2007
Good Jobs First has found that General Growth Properties, the country's second largest owner and operator of shopping malls, has drained more than $200 million in revenues from local governments around the country. This is the main finding of a study of economic development subsidies received by GGP as well as the company's frequent challenges to its property tax assessments. More details can be found in our press releaseor in the full textof the report, titled Growing at Whose Expense?
Eye on Subsidies
August 23, 2007
Arizona Curbs Phoenix-Area Retail Subsidies. Buffalo News Exposes Costly Niagara Electricity Giveaways. Google's N.C. Subsidies Challenged in Court. New York State's Brownfield Cleanup Subsidy Failing. Chicago Exchanges Merge, Announce Layoffs, Get Subsidies. Jet Set Subsidies for Honda Jet Engines. Jersey City NAACP Challenges Goldman Sachs Tax Break. Alabama Grants Another Mega-Subsidy. Atlanta-County Lawyers Vet, Profit from Bond Deals. Striking Kentucky Steelworkers Protest Subsidy Deal. Texas Property Tax Breaks Hurt Schools. Read more
"Insider Baseball: How Current and Former Public Officials Pitched a Community Shutout for the New York Yankees"
July 20, 2007
A deftly assembled lineup of former elected and appointed officials were employed by the Yankees organization to help push through a new baseball stadium even though the project won't benefit taxpayers or community members, claims Insider Baseball: How Current and Former Public Officials Pitched a Community Shutout for the New York Yankees, a new report by Good Jobs New York. The report -- available at www.goodjobsny.org-- reveals cost increases of nearly $100 million for a total taxpayer hit exceeding half a billion dollars.
[ Press Release] [ Report]
Eye on Subsidies
June 14, 2007
Cabela's Caves on Nexus. Alabama "Wins" ThyssenKrupp Steel Mill. Subsidized Radio Shack Headquarters Laying Off, Subletting. Minnesota Governor Vetoes Tax Breaks to Thomson West and Mall of America. Show Business Subsidies in Louisiana and North Carolina. Piper Aircraft Co Threatens to Fly for Richer Territories. Kansas City's Subsidized Parking for the Feds. Wal-Mart Continues to Benefit from Subsidies. Read More
"Pay, or We (Might) Go: How Citigroup Games the States and Cities"
June 12, 2007
The world's largest financial services firm rarely makes a move without getting taxpayers to help foot the bill, a new report suggests. Citigroup uses threats of moving facilities and jobs elsewhere to repeatedly play state against state and locality against locality and attract millions of dollars in subsidies. Over the past 18 years this practice has won Citigroup over $226 million from New York and New Jersey governments, sometimes for moving jobs from one state to the other.
[ Press Release] [ Report ]
Introducing Wal-Mart Subsidy Watch
June 5, 2007
Wal-Mart Stores continues to benefit enormously from state and local government economic development subsidies, including 39 deals worth more than $200 million in just the past three years. This according to Good Jobs First, which has issued an update of our landmark 2004 report Shopping for Subsidies, which found more than $1 billion in subsidies for Wal-Mart facilities. Details of the 39 new deals, combined with data from the 2004 report, are available on a new searchable website called Wal-Mart Subsidy Watch.
Read more.
"Sprawling by the Lake: How IDA-Granted Property Tax Exemptions Undermine Older Parts of the Buffalo/Niagara Metro Area"
May 30, 2007
Buffalo - Industrial Development Agencies (IDAs) in the Buffalo/Niagara metro area are subsidizing job creation and investment, but not in areas that most need them. In Erie County, wealthy suburbs -- especially those with their own IDAs -- contain disproportionate shares of IDA-granted property tax exemptions, fueling regional sprawl. State law that regulates IDAs could be amended to ensure that IDA tax breaks don't undermine regional growth plans and support jobs and investment where they are most needed.
[ Press Release] [ Report]
Eye on Subsidies
April10, 2007
Mall of America seeks massive new subsidies. Court: New York State must disclose company-specific Empire Zone data. New Orleans: Big, Easy Giveaways. MSNBC episode prompts New Jersey reform debate while Cabela's Deal in Idaho sparks ethics debate. Granite City, IL proposes $70-100 million TIF for US Steel and Sun Coke as Mississippi provides $323.9 million in incentives for Toyota. Study: North Carolina may lose on Dell deal. Read More
"The Ideal Deal: How Local Governments Can Get More for Their Economic Development Dollar"
March 16, 2007
Chicago and Washington -- Local governments can write more effective contracts to improve the odds that companies receiving economic development incentives keep their promises to create good jobs and other community benefits - or pay taxpayers back.
[ Press Release] [ Report]
Eye on Subsidies
February 22, 2007
Oodles for Google in North Carolina. Thomson Corp. cashing in on dubious bidding war. San Antonio's CIED fund grows giant deal for Microsoft. New Jersey Assembly approves tax breaks to polluter. Virginia city must repay state incentives after a company fails. Louisiana and Alabama up the ante to win German steel mill; Arkansas out of the running. Philanthropy vs. Justice: Nike avoids taxes, contributes to Oregon schools. Read more
Gold Collar: How State Job Subsidies in the Chicago Region Favor Affluent Suburbs
January 17, 2007
Chicago -- Job subsidies granted by several Illinois state agencies have severely shortchanged Chicago and many parts of Cook County. Instead of helping to revitalize areas in the region hardest-hit by plant closings and job flight, the state's development deals have favored affluent, outlying areas with low unemployment and the strongest tax base. The resulting spatial mismatch between new job creation at the fringe and economic need at the core means many transit-dependent workers cannot benefit from regional growth.
[ Press Release] [ Report]
Eye on Subsidies
January 9, 2007
Google searches for subsidies in the Carolinas while other Southern states ante up for a German steel mill. Closing of subsidized vacuum cleaner plant angers a Mississippi community. TIF roundup. Pennsylvania goes all out for Westinghouse Electric. Michigan city backs off threat to rescind tax breaks for Ford-Mazda alliance. Wisconsin tax-credit package for Harley upped after workers reject concessions.
Read more.
The Thin Cities: How Subsidized Job Piracy Deepens Inequality in the Twin Cities Metro Area
December 7th, 2006
Economic development incentives that were originally intended to help revitalize older areas are instead being used by outlying suburbs to pirate jobs and tax revenues from older cities in the Twin Cities metro area. Local officials need a cooperative structure to curtail zero-sum job piracy and focus instead on jointly promoting the region. And the state should use incentive deals as leverage to make more jobs transit-accessible and alleviate traffic congestion.
[ Press Release] [ Report]
The Geography of Incentives: Economic Development and Land Use in Michigan
December 6th, 2006
The unfair geographic distribution of economic development subsidies in Michigan favors well-off and thinly populated areas, delivering few benefits to the state as a whole and harming the state's economy. The state should get all the options on the table and begin coordinating its economic development programs with land use planning to make more efficient use of infrastructure, reduce tax base stress, and revitalize existing communities.
[ Press Release] [ Report]
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