Witness tells Michigan House subcommittee SOAR 'critical industry' deals pay companies up front rather than for jobs

At a hearing of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Corporate Subsidies and State Investments, James Homan of the Mackinac Center urged lawmakers to require that SOAR critical industry payments be tied more to verified job creation and less to companies' capital expenditures.

Homan told the committee the critical industry program is “unstructured,” gives administrators broad discretion to tailor deals and typically pays companies for capital costs or milestone benchmarks rather than for employees’ wages or verified hires. He said that approach leaves the state with limited and delayed recourse if companies fail to deliver the jobs promoted in press statements.

Homan said the state has authorized roughly $1.45 billion through the program and that about $720 million has been spent so far. “Weve spent $720,000,000 and no jobs have been created,” he said, summarizing the outcomes reported to date. He also summarized nine large deals that, taken together, proposed roughly $1.46 billion in assistance to…