Saving jobs has to be a high priority for Michigan. But it's paying the price for that.
Chad Livengood of The Detroit News reports:
Michigan faces years of budget uncertainty because state leaders awarded billions of dollars in tax credits mostly to Detroit's three automakers to save tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs during the Great Recession.
A Detroit News analysis of state records found General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and the former Chrysler Group LLC are entitled to refundable tax credits worth nearly $4.5 billion if they retain more than 86,000 jobs in Michigan through 2032 — or nearly 70 percent of their current, combined in-state workforce. The subsidies require the three automakers to spend a combined $5.5 billion in upgrading assembly plants and other facilities in Michigan.
Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm's administration awarded the three automakers the massive tax credit packages as the companies fought for survival in 2009 and 2010, trying to ensure the domestic auto industry stayed anchored in Michigan. The plan worked, but the bills are coming due.
