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Even asking is anti-job

April 28th, 2010 — Bills, Labor, Taxes & Fees

The anti-job attacks have hit a new level of absurdity.  Now, even asking if a job-creation plan actually creates any jobs has become anti-job.  Seriously.

We were considering a bill (HB10-1350) today that asks the Colorado Economic Development Commission to come up with a plan for determining if our supposedly job-creating subsidies and tax breaks really create jobs.  Yes, that's asking the foxes to report on their success in guarding the hen house (more on that after the break), but even that was too much for the Governor and the Republicans.

While the Governor's crew and the chamber of commerce lobbyists were frantically trying to kill the bill from the lobby, Republicans on the House floor were calling the proposal anti-business and anti-job.

It wasn't clear from their comments if requiring job incentives to create jobs is anti-job, or if just asking if they create jobs is anti-job, but, does it matter?  

Another argument against the bill was that it would send the wrong message to business.  Really?  What message would it send?  That when he hand over money to businesses so they'll create jobs, we expect them to create jobs with it?  That seems like the right message.

I think the wrong message would be that we're handing out subsidies and tax breaks and don't care if they create jobs or not.

Keep in mind that we hand over hundreds of millions of dollars worth of tax breaks every year in the name of creating jobs.  Those tax breaks are why we have to cut school funding, raise tuition at colleges and universities and suspend the senior property tax exemption.

With those kinds of consequences, asking if we're getting our money's worth seems like a good idea.

The most discouraging part of the debate was that the Governor and the business lobby had already gutted the bill.

 

By the time the bill got out of the House Finance Committee, it was watered down to practically nothing.  It requires only two things:
 
First, for projects that are supposed to be creating jobs, the Colorado economic development commission would have had to report the number of jobs they had created and the median salary of those jobs.
 
Second, by next year's legislative session, the commission would have had to recommend a plan for figuring out if it's accomplishing anything.  Specifically, the plan would have had to include a way of determining if any of the grants, loans, or tax credits it hands out for creating jobs actually create any jobs.  In other words, the foxes would be able to outline their own plan for measuring how well they're guarding the hen house.
 
The original version of the bill was a big tougher.
 
Businesses that get an economic development subsidy or tax credit worth more than $25,000 would have had to file annual progress reports.  All of the reports would have had to include the name and contact information for the business
 
For subsidies and tax breaks that are intended to create jobs, a company would have had to report:
  • the number of jobs it created as a result of the subsidy or tax break, supported by payroll data
  • the type of jobs
  • the wages and benefits for the jobs
  • whether the company is laying off people in Colorado
 
For other subsidies and tax breaks, companies would have had to report:
  • the goal 
  • how the company is achieving the goal
  • any other information that would help evaluate the success of the incentive
If a company refused to provide the information the Economic Development Commission could have required it to pay back the subsidy or tax break.

2 comments

1 Update on HB10-1350 | Colorado Capitol Report { 05.10.10 at 1:24 am }

[...] House Bill 10-1350 passed on third reading today.  That's the bill that asks the Economic Development Commission to come up with a plan to determine if our supposedly job-creating subsidies and tax breaks are actually creating any jobs. [...]

2 Senate update on tax break accountability bill | Colorado Capitol Report { 05.10.10 at 1:31 am }

[...] business committee hated the bill.  They, along with some House members went so far as to call it [...]

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