BlogWood: MT Archives

County to study ways to justify more corporate welfare?

This actually sounds pretty good...

Hillsborough Commissioner Mark Sharpe called for a review Wednesday of the effectiveness of a state incentive program meant to lure corporations with high-paying jobs to Florida.

Sharpe won approval from his fellow board members to have the county's administrator and internal performance auditor analyze the numbers.

His request comes after a St. Petersburg Times story late last month chronicled how one company, JPMorgan Chase & Co., has been given or promised more than $100-million in state incentives even as it shed jobs.

But then Jim Norman weighs in:

While the vote was unanimous, some commissioners said the analysis may have little value. Commissioner Ken Hagan said the county won't have access to some of the records, which are kept by the state. Commission Chairman Jim Norman said the proposal should be framed more positively.

"The way I look at it as that I would like to generate a report to show us the value of the program and how we create more jobs," he said. "I'm interested in finding out how we can do more here."

Shorter Jim Norman: let’s pre-determine the results so that we can throw even more cash at the corporate welfare daddies while cutting real benefits that actual people rely on to remain alive.