Good Jobs First Blog
And The Oscar Goes To: State Subsidies for Oscar Nominated Movies
by Kasia Tarczynska, Good Jobs First
posted on February 7, 2020
As we get closer to the Oscar gala, this is a good time to remember that the public supports the industry not only by buying movie tickets and paying for streaming subscription but also by providing film production companies
Report: Corporate Tax Giveaways Harm State Revenues Needed for Pension Funding
Washington, DC: January 22, 2020 – Public pensions are seriously underfunded in some states, and the situation is not helped by the fact that states continue to give huge tax breaks and other subsidies to corporations. Such subsidies often exceed the amount a state owes to maintain its pension obligations.
States Are Losing Revenue Passively to Federal Opportunity Zones. But Only Four Have Even Estimated Their Losses
Opportunity Zones (OZs), the new federal tax break for investing in specially designated census tracts, are estimated to cost the federal treasury $1.6 billion a year. But because all but a few states tie their personal and corporate income tax systems to Uncle Sam’s, OZs will also have a direct and negative impact on state revenues.
California Leads the Country in Local Prosecution of Business Misconduct
Washington, DC, December 10, 2019 -- A new compilation of business-misconduct lawsuits filed by local prosecutors in the nation’s largest cities and counties finds that California accounts for far more cases than any other state. Since the beginning of 2000, local California prosecutors have brought 441 successful suits against corporations, representing more than three-quarters of all such cases in the 50 biggest cities and counties of the United States as a whole.
Report: Bipartisan Corporate Crime-Fighting by the States has Yielded Over $100 Billion in Company Payouts
Washington, DC, September 16, 2019 – A new compilation of lawsuits filed by the attorneys general of the 50 states and the District of Columbia finds that since the beginning of 2000 there have been 644 in which AGs from different states successfully cooperated on cases involving allegations of corporate misconduct. These investigations, which usually resulted in civil settlements in which the defendants did not admit guilt, often brought together AGs with divergent partisan affiliations. The total penalties paid by the companies was $105.9 billion.