Good Jobs First

NEW: Local governments are losing more revenue than ever to corporate tax abatements granted as “incentives” for economic development. In just six years between 2017 through 2022, a share of U.S. localities lost $93 billion, with annual losses rising 28%. For school districts, the losses rose higher: 42%. For at least 18 school districts, revenue losses *𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱* in six years. Theses findings were made possible by a recent change in accounting rules which requires most local governmental bodies to report how much revenue they lose to corporate tax break programs. “It’s vital that the public knows how much their communities and school districts lose to corporate tax abatements,” said the report's lead author Anya Gizis. “Only then can they begin to determine whether such giveaways were worth it.” https://lnkd.in/gfMCzsJa

Phillip Mattera, Corporate Research Project Director with Good Jobs First joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss a rise in child labor violations over the past decade and their Violation Tracker. https://lnkd.in/eYsbvaFB

🚨Model Ordinance Alert!🚨 In Laredo, Texas, local officials require companies that receive an economic development subsidy from them to pay their workers based on the MIT living wage calendar, which includes what it takes to be able to afford typical expenses, such as food, housing, healthcare, transportation, and childcare. It is updated annually and reflects changes in the economy such as inflation. This last point is worth lifting up: We've seen some deals where the company must pay a decent wage in the first year, but it is never *required* to raise it (even 20 years later). Any incentive program, state or local, should come with these kinds of strings. #Laredo #Texas #EconomicDevelopmentSubsidies #LivingWage #MITLivingWageCalculator #CorporateIncentives https://lnkd.in/gPhnKcFd

Amazon's head of extracting economic development subsidies in New York said she wouldn't be surprised if Erie County residents get some of the new (low-paying) jobs at their facility - all good except Niagara County residents are the ones who gave Amazon $124 million. Niagara residents will pay to fix the roads Amazon's trucks erode, offset Amazon's water, sewer and energy bills, and be most harmed by the extra pollutants Amazon's warehouse generates. When we subsidize Amazon, we subsidize small business destruction and the creation of low-paying, dangerous jobs. We give Amazon money that would have otherwise gone to classrooms, veterans services, parks, and anything else we care about. Whether it's for a warehouse or data center for its growing AI operations, it's long past time to #EndAmazonSubsidies #Amazon #AI #DataCenters #CorporateWelfare https://lnkd.in/gBDDvPqZ

Join Good Jobs First's Arlene Martínez, Executive MBA for this thought-provoking panel - Sept. 18 at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT.

Important article on data centers, which are receiving billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to as secretively as possible build giant server farms. The public is often in the dark about these subsidies until it's far too late - or they start seeing those higher utility bills.

How much did governments (including school districts) spend on economic development tax abatements last year? The lag in releasing financial reports makes that virtually impossible to answer. Of the roughly 750 jurisdictions we had surveyed as of early July, 40% had yet to file their Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFRS), more than a year after most of their fiscal years ended on June 30, 2023. Some hadn't posted for multiple years. These aren't small towns, by the way. https://lnkd.in/gRvNF8r6 #ACFR #AnnualComprehensiveFinancialReport #GASB #GASB77 #TaxAbatements #EconomicDevelopmentIncentives

Between 2017 and 2022, Puerto Rico gave up almost $̲𝟴̲𝟲̲ ̲𝗯̲𝗶̲𝗹̲𝗹̲𝗶̲𝗼̲𝗻̲ ̲𝗼̲𝗳̲ ̲𝗶̲𝘁̲𝘀̲ ̲𝗿̲𝗲̲𝘀̲𝗶̲𝗱̲𝗲̲𝗻̲𝘁̲𝘀̲'̲ ̲𝗺̲𝗼̲𝗻̲𝗲̲𝘆̲ to entice people under the age of 36 to stay or move there. Act 135, as the Commonwealth’s relocation incentive is known, is by far the costliest of Puerto Rico’s tax breaks given to "grow its economy." Other programs benefit crypto mining, film production, and pharmaceuticals. The influx of new investors who reap the benefits from these subsidies is causing a strain on existing residents of the island, where schools are struggling to accommodate the new students without the tax revenues necessary to pay for them and where housing costs are rising as wealthy outsiders scoop up land and property. #PuertoRico #Act135 #TaxBreaks #OffshoreTaxHaven #GASB77 #TaxAbabements https://lnkd.in/gnnGryqD

NEW: An analysis of federal enforcement data finds that the companies most responsible for a surge in illegal child labor during the past decade are major retail and restaurant chains. Although child labor penalties are shockingly low, some employers have nonetheless racked up substantial cumulative fines. Topping the list is the private equity firm Roark Capital, whose portfolio companies accounted for $1.7 million in penalties across 2,000 violations. Roark is among the thousands of companies fined a total of $27 million by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) between 2017 and 2023. At the peak of child labor violations in 2022, civil penalties had increased 130% in the last six years—and the number of children affected nearly doubled. The surge in child labor violations in recent years points to the need to make federal rules stricter and increasing penalties to a level at which they create a more effective deterrent. Better state-level transparency is also needed. Read our findings: #ChildLabor #RoarkCapital #DOL https://lnkd.in/gpbcfrfK

When the rich are ripped off, regulators go crazy and penalize banks billions of dollars. When the Amazons of the world put their workers in harm's way - or worse - they pay a few bucks. Case in point: Amazon has 165 records totaling $253.5 million – the equivalent of what Amazon’s Jeff Bezos earns in just over a week. Over 100 of those records are for safety-related violations. Danske Bank has two records totaling over *$2 Billion* in penalties. They relate to anti-money-laundering safeguards. It's long past time for OSHA to update its fee schedule, Arlene Martínez, Executive MBA writes here. https://lnkd.in/gfpgq7iQ #Amazon #CorporateMisconduct #ViolationTracker