State legislators are currently debating whether to extend the Good Jobs for Michigan (GJFM) subsidy program.
While supporters argue it is intended to boost economic development, opponents say it has become a drain on taxpayers without showing results, likening it to the failed and since expired Michigan Economic Growth Authority (MEGA) program. Under MEGA, billions in subsidies were given to businesses like Kmart that ultimately did not succeed.
Opponents of GJFM argue that the program contains language modeled after MEGA.
Michael D. LaFaive, senior director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy
| https://www.mackinac.org/
Michael D. LaFaive, senior director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, testified against extending GJFM in the state Senate last month. LaFaive also recently published commentary in Michigan Capitol Confidential, stating that four of five intensive studies on the MEGA program found it to be a “net negative” for the state’s finances.
“These programs need to stop, and any savings that might accrue from eliminating them and their related administration [should be] dedicated to some higher and more productive priority,” LaFaive wrote.
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