Straying from Good Intentions: How States are Weakening Enterprise Zone and Tax Increment Financing Programs

August 2003

By Alyssa Talanker and Kate Davis with Greg LeRoy

This report examines legislative changes to two geographically targeted economic development programs: tax increment financing (TIF) and enterprise zones. It asks the question: Have laws governing these programs been weakened to permit the use of these programs in non-blighted or affluent areas? In virtually every state that has weakened its TIF or enterprise zone program, the answer is “Yes.”