Testimony on House Bills 5413 – 5415 — James Hohman, Mackinac Center
Summary
Written testimony on House Bills 5413 – 5415 by James Hohman, director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center, who states that he is testifying against the bills. The testimony says an economic development program ought to be judged on how much it develops the economy. It recommends that legislators add performance targets for the state economy, with the number of jobs as recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and that the state no longer hand out awards if the program fails to meet them. It says bill sponsors should make explicit and transparent commitments about how much employment their programs will generate.
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“Testimony on House Bills 5413 – 5415 — James Hohman, Mackinac Center.”
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Testimony on House Bills 5413 – 5415
My name is James Hohman and I am the director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center. I am here to testify
against House Bills 5413 – 5415. An economic development program ought to be judged based on how much
it develops the economy, as I said in my testimony to you last week about film subsidies.
Instead of my going over the evidence on the ineffectiveness of these programs with you, I am going to
suggest a change.
The bills’ supporters clearly believe that this will improve the state’s economic growth. I recommend that
legislators add performance targets for the state economy and a requirement that the state no longer hand
out awards if the program fails to meet them.
The performance targets should be based on the state’s economic performance data. I recommend the
number of jobs as recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its Quarterly Census of Employment and
Wages. Bill sponsors should make explicit and transparent commitments about much employment will
be generated by their programs. The benefits of the subsidy should be substantial enough to be clearly
measurable in the state’s economic performance and attributable to the companies receiving state
assistance. This would make the program accountable for results.
It ought not be a radical idea to require that economic development programs develop the economy.
Lawmakers should add clear, measurable targets based on state economic performance to this package.
James M. Hohman
Director of Fiscal Policy
Mackinac Center for Public Policy
mackinac.org
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