In Tax Giveaways To Corporations Like Amazon, Illinois Loses
ICPR’s EDGE credit write up was used in this article.
Via- The Chicago Reporter
“Governor Bruce Rauner is expected to sign a bill reviving the state’s controversial EDGE corporate tax credit program, which passed with overwhelming margins in both houses of the legislature.
The new measure includes a few tweaks that will marginally improve the program, intended to spark job creation through state subsidies to businesses. But the far-reaching recommendations by watchdog groups remain unaddressed. Beyond that is the bigger question: Does the program actually work, or is it just a big giveaway? Research strongly suggests the latter.
The “war between the states” to land businesses and the jobs they would bring has heated up since July, when Wisconsin won a Foxcomm electronics plant with a $3 billion state subsidy. Even if all 13,000 potential jobs are created – which is less than likely – that will mean a state subsidy of $230,000 per job, making the deal “a sure loser for Wisconsin” that “can only be described as a transfer of wealth from Wisconsin taxpayers to Foxcomm shareholders,” said Greg LeRoy of Good Jobs First, which tracks corporate subsidies nationally.”
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