News Center

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 stores and distribution centers examined.]

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 release or in the full text of 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 Plays the State 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 ]

Subsidies in the News
November 21, 2006
Highlights: Seattle nixes stadium giveaways. Omaha voters keep TIF real. Target wants bigger subsidy for Twin Cities project. La-Z-Boy deal generates piracy charges in North Carolina, while same town may be unnecessarily subsidizing a Polo.com facility. Financial giants test New York Mayor Bloomberg's resolve on giveaways. Georgia gives $35 million subsidy package for $30 million ADP facility. Biofuel subsidies already at least $5 billion a year.
Read more.

Subsidies in the News
October 18, 2006
Highlights: Subsidies play a role in Goodyear strike. Town battles agency over tax breaks for upstate New York power plant. Subsidies for an airline "samurai" in Ohio. Court rejects challenge to Minnesota JOBZ program. Questions raised about Kentucky study of subsidy programs. IKEA plans U.S. manufacturing operation--with help from taxpayers. ConAgra may face clawback in Ohio. Technology tax credits failing to expand jobs in Hawaii. Read more.

Subsidies in the News
September 22, 2006
Highlights: Cabela's keeps on fishing for public funds. US Airways sets up three-city competition for operations center. Kentucky is cooking up a subsidy feast for  Ford Motor. Muncie is divided over continuation of abatement for BorgWarner. Metlife is moving back to Manhattan. Empire Zone abuses assailed in New York. Payroll giant ADP acquires tax avoidance firm Mintax. Read more.

Thank a Teacher, Improve Your "Business Climate"!
August 28, 2006 
A tiny grandmother from Toledo named Charlotte Cuno stood on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court last March, enraged by questions the justices had just asked her lawyer. Read More

Subsidies in the News
August 16, 2006
Highlights: Target Corp. accused of "all take and no give." Taking on TIF in the Twin Cities. North Carolina town promised Novartis more than it could afford. Fidelity Investments gets $69 million package for Research Triangle expansion. Subsidies as "economic hash" in Wisconsin. Michigan aid seeks to preserve jobs at Ford Motor. Subsidizing a nuke in Maryland. Read more.

Subsidies in the News
July 28, 2006
Highlights: United Airlines gets subsidies for a short hop. Google search ends with Michigan tax break. Chinese auto transplant joins U.S. subsidy game. Chris-Craft gets the royal treatment in North Carolina. North Carolina wins vaccine plant despite being outbid by Georgia. Paying to keep Office Depot "within its clutches." Oil refiners enjoy local as well as federal largesse. AAA tows operations across state lines to win subsidies. Read more. 

Subsidies in the News
July 7, 2006
Highlights: New York follows through on $1.2 billion subsidy for AMD chip fab. Indiana wins competition for Honda plant. Target Corp. changes job-creation targets for mixed-use project outside Minneapolis. Bidding war heats up for next-generation power plant. West Virginia tax credit data now available. Dueling reports on California's enterprise zone program. BearingPoint gets subsidy to move from one part of Manhattan to another. New Mexico pays to go Hollywood. Read more.

Smart Growth, Housing and Transit Advocates Hail New Law Promoting
"Location Efficient" Job Subsidies
June 30, 2006
Several Chicago-based organizations hailed Governor Blagojevich's signing today of the Business Location Efficiency Incentive Act (SB 2885). The new law makes Illinois the first state to intentionally use economic development subsidies to link jobs with public transit and/or affordable housing.Read More

 

Subsidies in the News

June 13, 2006
Highlights: $1B for a chip plant in New York? Bristol-Myers Squibb opts for Massachusetts over a larger subsidy offer from New York. Treasury Department chooses 63 financial institutions for