National Publications
Abating Our Future: How Students Pay for Corporate Tax Breaks
Economic development tax abatements given to corporations cost public school districts $2.37 billion in foregone revenue in fiscal year 2019. That’s an increase of 13 percent – a $273 million jump – from just two years earlier and came during the pre-pandemic period of economic prosperity, a new report details.
The losses were widespread: 97 school districts lost more than $5 million each, and 149 districts lost more than $1,000 per student. That left less money for students, who suffered poorer schools, and caused working families to pay higher local and state taxes.
The Other Environmental Regulators: How States Unevenly Enforce Pollution Laws
The latest expansion of Violation Tracker consists of more than 50,000 environmental enforcement actions brought by state regulators over the past 20 years. This report analyzes the data and finds striking differences among the states in their degree of regulatory zeal. It also reveals which companies and industries have paid the most in state environmental penalties.
WORKPLACE WARNINGS: The Need for a New and Improved Paycheck Protection Program
More than 190,000 American workers have been laid off since March across 1,900 companies that received loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The companies intended to support 251,000 workers – instead, they laid off 76 percent of them. About one in eight of those workers lost their jobs permanently.
Combining data from Covid Stimulus Watch and Violation Tracker, this report shows how many CARES Act recipients have a history of corporate misconduct.
Many Americans are rightly aghast at the “economic war among the states” as exposed by Amazon’s HQ2 auction. Now, they are also emboldened to challenge this corrosive war by the enormous community organizing victory in New York City that caused Amazon to cancel one new headquarters in Queens. Good Jobs First proposes five ways to rein in the problem of governments over-spending for economic development deals—so they can better focus on strategies that work.
Cities need to stop selling out to big tech companies. There's a better way.
Every mayor and governor wants to attract hi-tech jobs. But too few elected officials have taken the time to learn how hi-tech companies start up, how they thrive, and how government can best assist them – without overspending on a few big deals. Using “old economy” incentives for “new economy” firms can be costly and counterproductive.
HQ2 Employees Might Unwittingly Pay Their Taxes to Amazon
There’s a very real chance that when Amazon.com, Inc. starts hiring employees for its second headquarters, or HQ2, those employees’ state personal income taxes won’t all go to the state treasury. Billions of dollars in taxes may instead be diverted to the company, of which CEO Jeff Bezos owns 17 percent.
Greg LeRoy discusses how Amazon has gained market share through the receipt of tax incentives. He argues that state and local governments shouldn’t be paying Amazon to undermine other retailers.
Disclosing the Costs of Corporate Welfare
For decades, politicians of both parties have touted the glories of massive tax-break deals. Whether it’s a governor announcing an auto assembly plant or a mayor breaking ground for a new mall, they invariably take credit for the jobs and claim that tax breaks did the trick.
But the costs of such deals and the programs that bankroll them have seldom been fully disclosed. The details are usually buried in different state, county, and city agencies. And of course, the costs are suffered by taxpayers over decades, long after the politicians win their re-election.
Read the full article on The American Prospect website.
Donald Trump’s controversial deal with Carrier Corp. has ushered in a long-overdue debate over corporate giveaways that come at taxpayers’ expense.
Using data from dozens of programs and deals in Good Jobs First’s Subsidy Tracker database, we draw sharp comparisons between the costs of workforce development programs versus company-specific “megadeals.” Whereas 31 out of 33 training programs have four-figure costs per job, our current megadeals database shows an average cost to taxpayers of more than $658,000 per job.
Tax Fairness: An Answer to State Budget Problems
This report from Keystone Research Center and Good Jobs First shows that states could generate up to $128 billion in revenue to meet state needs by fixing inequities in state tax codes. The study shows that surging inequality has skewed huge amounts of income to the one percent, who pay far lower tax rates than the middle class, squeezing state budgets unnecessarily.
As a result of substantial enhancements we have made to our Subsidy Tracker database, it is possible for the first time to estimate the share of total state and local economic development awards going to the largest corporations.This report summarizes the findings.
Show Us the Subsidized Jobs: An Evaluation of State Government Online Disclosure of Economic Development Subsidy Awards and Outcomes
More states than ever are disclosing company-specific information on economic development subsidies, but the quality of the transparency is highly uneven.
Press release
Full report
Executive summary
Table of links to state disclosure websites
State appendices with scoring details
Megadeals: The Largest Economic Development Subsidy Packages Ever Awarded By State and Local Governments in the United States
In a painstaking review using hundreds of sources, Good Jobs First identifies 240 “megadeals,” or subsidy awards with a total state and local cost of $75 million or more each. The cumulative cost of these deals is more than $64 billion. The megadeals list is a new enhancement of Good Jobs First’s Subsidy Tracker database, the first online compilation of company-specific data on economic development deals from around the country.
full list of megadeals (with details) in spreadsheet form
Note: This list contains new deals that have come to light since the report was published.
Show Us the Local Subsidies: Cities and Counties Disclosing Economic Development Subsidies
Prominent studies that purport to measure and rank the states’ “business climates” are actually politicized grab-bags of data. They contradict each other wildly, have no predictive value, and should not be used to inform public policies. This is only the third such analysis of pseudo-social science “business climatology” in 27 years.
This companion report to our Money for Something and Show Us the Subsidies studies evaulates state subsidy programs on their use of clawbacks and other penalties in enforcing job-creation, job quality and other performance standards.Press release. Executive summary. Full report with appendices. Full report without appendices. Appendices.
This follow-up to our Show Us the Subsidies report evaluates state subsidy programs on their job-creation and other performance requirements as well as their job quality (wage and benefit) standards. Press Release. Full Report. Executive Summary. Appendices.
This synopsis of our previous reports on Walmart and research by others finds that the giant retailer is avoiding a total of about $400 million a year in state and local taxes.
Good Jobs First examines the subsidy disclosure practices of the 50 states (and D.C.). See which states do a good job of reporting on where the money is going and which keep taxpayers in the dark.
Note: Good Jobs First issued an updated version of this report in January 2014. See Show Us the Subsidized Jobs for updated disclosure information.
Report Overview (press release, appendices, executive summary)
Good Jobs First re-evaluates the quality of disclosure on the websites set up by state governments to educate the public about the flow of funds from the federal stimulus act. We find that states such as Kentucky, Illinois and Minnesota have made dramatic improvements in their sites over the past six months. Report Overview (press release, state appendices, rankings summary).
An examination of the quality of disclosure on the official websites set up by state governments to educate the public about the flow of funds from the federal stimulus program. Report Overview (press release, state appendices).
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. Press release.
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. Online appendices with lists of stores and distribution centers examined.
Transit-oriented development (TOD) is growing in popularity, due in part to its environmental benefits and innovative design. This report emphasizes another benefit, looking at the ways TOD can serve the needs of working families - particularly those with low and moderate income - by providing affordable housing and/or better access to jobs. Good Jobs First examines 25 TOD projects around the country and finds that projects with community benefits agreements, projects initiated by community development corporations (CDCs), and projects with exceptional private developers who intentionally sought to link people to job opportunities were more likely to address the needs of working families than most TOD projects.
This report by the Corporate Research Project of Good Jobs First spotlights the growing degree to which state governments are awarding contracts to offshore outsourcing firms. It was produced for the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (WashTech), a local union of the Communications Workers of America that supports workers in the information technology sector. The report found that 18 offshore outsourcing firms--including several billion-dollar companies from India--are aggressively seeking state government contract work, primarily in information technology, in at least 30 states. The 18 firms have already captured at least $75 million in offshore state contracts and are seeking more, in part by hiring former government officials and by making state electoral campaign contributions. The study also looks at the large number of state food-stamp call centers that are operated offshore.
A national survey finds that the number of economic development subsidies with job quality standards is continuing to rise sharply, and that standards are becoming an everyday tool for effectively targeting development subsidies to businesses that create high-quality jobs.
A 50-state survey of economic development subsidy programs--such as loans, grants, and tax incentives -- reveals that not one single state effectively coordinates its economic development spending with public transportation planning.