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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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W.K. Kellogg Foundation
May 28 at 11:02am ·
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“The Business Case for Racial Equity in Michigan,” a new report released today by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Altarum Institute outlines the cost of failing to address the legacy of racism in Michigan, and the benefits of advancing racial equity in the state. Racial inequities affecting health, education, earnings and other life outcomes are costing Michigan billions of dollars in lost economic potential – if we addressed these inequities, increased earnings would raise the state’s GDP by $31.2 billion dollars.
“Our legacy of racial division has created inequities that continue to contribute to our state’s fiscal deficiencies,” said La June Montgomery Tabron, president and CEO of the Kellogg Foundation. “If we want to ensure all children and families thrive in our state, we must work together to find new ways to build trust and overcome the persistent barriers from our past. This is an opportunity for all sectors to succeed.”
http://bit.ly/1BrkiTF |
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Sat May 30, 2015 3:41 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Sat May 30, 2015 3:45 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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In Mackinac: Making a business case for racial equity
By Stephen Henderson, Detroit Free Press Editorial Page Editor 12:05 a.m. EDT May 29, 2015
It's tough to talk race at a business conference — especially one like the Mackinac Policy Conference, where so many of the participants are elites whose concerns, quite appropriately, run more toward their bottom lines.
It's like talking window shades at a gathering of closet-dwellers.
But what if you could bridge that cognitive gap by connecting business outcomes to racial equity, and by proving that margins and economies and efficiencies can be achieved by expanding participation, and growing opportunity?
A ground-breaking report by the William K. Kellogg Foundation, together with panel discussions about the opportunities to pivot private-sector attention toward the dangers of continuing racial inequality, will put that question front and center today at the 2015 Mackinac Policy Conference. And the goal is not just talk, but deliverables — concrete ways that businesses, sometimes in partnership with government or nonprofits, can become advocates for racial justice. It's not a new concept, but it's an approach that deserves the attention and action of Mackinac's audience of business and political influencers.
Related: Mackinac players talk politics on the Seersucker Chats
LaJune Montgomery Tabron, the Kellogg Foundation's CEO, told me Thursday that it's simple: Businesses are leaving "money on the table" by operating in an economic environment that leaves so many people out.
And the urgency, Montgomery Tabron said, cannot be overstated. The product of a 10-child household in Detroit during the 1960s and '70s, she said the opportunities that helped lift her out of poverty are increasingly being cut off. "It's not the same, not at all," she said.
Related: Roundup of political happenings at Mackinac conference
The Kellogg Foundation report, "the Business Case for Racial Equity," was released a few years ago on a national level, but a Michigan update is being revealed today with some eye-popping numbers about the gaps that exist: Unemployment rates that are double for African Americans compared to white people. Home ownership numbers that show less than half of black people participating, but more than three-quarters of white people realizing that part of the American dream. Incredible discrepancies in health, educational attainment, literacy and other measures of economic opportunity.
But as bleak as the picture is here in Michigan, the Kellogg report also highlights the opportunities that could be realized by attacking disparities, and celebrates real victories being realized by private-sector interests that are already tuned in to the value of pursuing more equality, and are acting.
For instance, what if the 70% of minority children deemed "at-risk" in the early education years were given access to pre-K programs? The report estimates it might save as much as $4.5 billion in lower special-education costs, assistance and child welfare costs, and savings from reduced crime and substance abuse.
If the average minority worker earned as much as his or her white counterparts, and it were achieved through increased productivity, it would result in a $31.2-billion increase in state GDP.
Disparities in access to quality health care cost Michigan citizens, businesses and governments $2 billion in excess medical costs and $1.4 billion in lost productive in 2009.
The report points to promising preschool investments around the state — the Perry Preschool Program in Ypsilanti is an example — that target poor minority children as yielding among the best returns on investment. So, too, to internship programs run by businesses in urban areas, and public-private partnership programs like the Nurse Family Program in Detroit, which sends nurses to low-income homes to increase early intervention in critical health problems.
Today's panel at Mackinac will include Montgomery Tabron, deputy Detroit police chief Renee Hall, Detroit City Councilman Andre Spivey and Frank Venegas, CEO of the Ideal Group Inc. I will moderate the discussion, and point it toward what government and business both need to do to address the growing gaps in opportunity.
It's worth noting how unusual this theme, racial equality, is on the policy conference agenda. Best I can remember, it has been 10 years since an explicit effort to address race or racial inequality was part of the conference, but this year there were several discussions specifically focused on the subjects.
That's partially about news — the flare-ups in some communities around the nation and the growing dialogue about lingering racism and inequality.
It's up to participants to make it more: a pivot toward sustained attention — and action.
Stephen Henderson is editorial page editor for the Free Press. He is the host of "Detroit Today," which airs on weekdays on 101.9 FM (WDET) and "American Black Journal," which airs at 12:30 p.m. Sundays on Detroit Public Television. Follow Henderson on Twitter @ShendersonFreep, or contact him at 313-222-6659 or shenderson600@freepress.com. |
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Sat May 30, 2015 3:48 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/08/michigan-tax-credits-cross-hairs/23098765/
Michigan tax credits in cross hairs
Chad Livengood, Detroit News Lansing Bureau 12 a.m. EST February 9, 2015
Lansing — Michigan's taxpayer incentives for job creation are likely to face increased scrutiny from lawmakers in the next few months as state officials wrestle with budget deficits blamed on surging business tax credits.
The Michigan Economic Development Corp., the state agency that administers grants and tax incentives for businesses, is in the cross hairs of some lawmakers who have long viewed its programs as a form of corporate welfare.
Payouts to businesses for refundable tax credits have ballooned from $75 million in the 2013 fiscal year to $681 million this year and an estimated $807 million in fiscal year 2016 — the main culprit of a $532 million shortfall in revenue.
With the state facing a midyear budget deficit of $325 million, some legislators have expressed a desire to slash the MEDC's $130 million annual business incentives budget, while others would like to eliminate the agency.
"Given the hundreds of millions of dollars that have been directed away from roads, away from essential services, we really can't afford it," said freshman Rep. Todd Courser, R-Lapeer, who plans to introduce legislation this week that would entirely defund the MEDC.
But it's unclear what, if anything, lawmakers can do about the Michigan Business Tax credits that profitable corporations are applying against their tax bills or cashing in for huge refunds. The tax credits were awarded to businesses during the past decade to spur job creation or get companies to keep jobs in Michigan and are viewed as a contractual obligation by Gov. Rick Snyder's administration.
"It's not as easy as saying, 'Cut them off, we're not going to do it anymore,' " said Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive. "If you sign a contract with somebody and it's for a long-term thing and you've made your business plan and your investments based on that, we have to tread very carefully when you're talking about that."
Snyder is expected to address the impact of business tax credits on the state's roughly $10 billion general fund budget Wednesday when he pitches his 2016 fiscal year spending plan to lawmakers.
The MEDC has previously estimated Michigan's long-term business tax credit liability is $6.5 billion. But the agency is expected to give lawmakers a new estimate this week based on a recent examination of the impact of rising payrolls for tens of thousands of jobs tied to the tax credits, particularly the Detroit Three automakers.
The Detroit News reported Thursday that 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 and invest $5.5 billion in facilities through 2032.
"We obviously have to be really sensitive with all of the companies involved; this is not a blame game type of deal," said Steve Arwood, president and CEO of the MEDC.
The nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency recently published a paper criticizing the MEDC for underestimating the average compensation for retained jobs that are covered by the tax credits and not accounting for increased wages — and higher tax credit values — over the 20-year life of the subsidies.
The growth in state's tax credit liability has caused the governor to personally spend time investigating the matter.
"I don't like things that I feel could use additional management attention to — and this has my attention," Snyder told The Detroit News recently.
Courser said the MEDC has been mismanaged, and it's time for Snyder to take action. "I know it's his baby, but I think it's time to throw this baby out with the bath water," he said.
Rep. Sam Singh, D-East Lansing, has advocated scaling back MEDC programs but thinks Courser's proposal is "very irresponsible."
"To me, you don't have to just throw away the entire program; you just have to right- size it for today's economy," Singh said. "I'm not joining Todd Courser to tear the whole thing down, at this point."
Courser and other lawmakers view the business tax credits process with suspicion because privacy laws governing the tax information for individual corporations limit the amount of public information available about the liability and ultimate cost of the credits. It also makes it difficult to predict when the tax credits will be cashed in, the Senate Fiscal Agency said.
"It's human nature when we don't have access to information, our minds are going to run, and we're going to come up with thoughts," said House Speaker Kevin Cotter, R-Mount Pleasant. "I'm trying to take the position of, 'Let's take the emotion out of it, let's get the facts.' I don't believe I have access to a lot of those facts right now."
Arwood acknowledged the agency had to do more to educate lawmakers on the complex issue, particularly most House members who were elected after the Legislature halted the issuance of new Michigan Economic Growth Authority tax credits after 2011.
"A lot of these folks are new, and they weren't here in that time and weren't involved in the policy discussions," Arwood said. "I think the questions about what's going on with us is absolutely fair."
clivengood@detroitnews.com
Twitter.com/ChadLivengood |
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Sat May 30, 2015 3:56 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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http://www.eclectablog.com/2015/02/michigan-gop-moves-to-fill-budget-crater-from-corporate-tax-breaks-by-robbing-a-quarter-billion-dollars-from-schools.html
Michigan GOP moves to fill budget crater from corporate tax breaks by robbing a quarter billion dollars from schools
By Eclectablog on February 19, 2015 in Education, GOPocrisy, Michigan Republicans, Rick Snyder
To hear Michigan Republicans tell the story, they are all about the importance of education in Michigan. Get them in front of a microphone, camera, or a reporter and they will tell you it’s one of their highest priorities. Their hypocrisy on this issue is in clear display this week as they passed to bills, H.B. 4110 and H.B. 4112, which take over a quarter billion dollars out of the state School Aid Fund.
I’m not kidding:
Much of the surplus in the current budget for Michigan schools could be used to pay down the state’s projected deficit after members of the Michigan House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday.
House Bill 4110 would use about $250.3 million from the state’s School Aid Fund to pay down a deficit in the general fund, a separate part of the state’s budget. On Wednesday, lawmakers in the House passed the bill 62-48, mostly along party lines.
The state is facing an estimated $456 million budget deficit for fiscal year 2015, which runs through the end of September. The School Aid Fund was projected to end the fiscal year with a $283.5 million surplus.
They are forced to do this because of the gigantic budget crater created by corporate tax breaks passed by Republicans in past years.
Here’s what House Rep. Adam Zemke, the Democratic vice chairman of the House Education Committee had to say about the legislation last night:
We have just finished debating HB 4110 and 4112, the bills to remove and transfer GF (general fund) funds from the School Aid Fund (SAF) and from multiple departmental budgets to the general fund to pay for the tax credits that have blown a hole in Michigan’s FY 2015 budget.
I voted nay for many reasons, but mostly because they take funds that are in the school aid fund and have been appropriated to that fund for the purposes of paying for public education, and use them to pay for tax credits that 1) should have been accounted for under the 2012 tax code changes and 2) should have been better monitored and reigned-in by the governing party long prior to today.
These are not small funding shifts – we are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars here. Simply balancing the budget by using SAF dollars and dollars from other state services are just that, the simple fix. They’re not the right fix. The right fix involves bringing tax credit recipients back to the table – the same table retirees, local governments and schools have been at over the past several years – and negotiating a deal to control these tax credits. That’s the fair and balanced solution.
Just as we have a constitutional responsibility to produce a balanced budget, we also have a constitutional responsibility to provide students with a good education. And we have a responsibility to our citizens, small businesses and local governments to share responsibility fairly. And that’s not what HB 4110 and 4112 do.
Republicans seem to think they can suck millions upon millions of dollars out of our state budget by handing out gifts in the form of tax breaks to corporations without causing problems. They also seem to think they can simply SAY they support education in Michigan and that their actions that prove otherwise won’t matter.
Neither of these things is true and they proved this week that education isn’t something they value, it’s just something they SAY they value while they eviscerate it. Do they really think we won’t notice???
Two more things: Gov. Snyder knew about this budget crater BEFORE last November’s election:
News broke today that the Snyder administration knew about the state’s massive budget shortfall last October while Gov. Rick Snyder campaigned on the premise that he had consistently balanced the budget.
During testimony to the Michigan House regarding the state’s massive deficit in the upcoming budget, MIRS News reported that an official with the Department of Treasury said the administration “became aware of the situation last fall.”
“The testimony today proves that Gov. Snyder purposefully deceived voters throughout the latter part of his reelection campaign,” said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan. “Snyder ran on his accounting and budgeting experience, but now we know he was actively trying to hide a half a billion dollar budget shortfall from voters. The numbers don’t lie — but Gov. Snyder sure did.”
Through that same testimony, lawmakers were told that the state’s tax liability through Michigan Economic Development Corporation MEGA tax credits is $9.38 billion, according to MIRS News, which is almost the entirety of the state’s General Fund Budget during the fiscal year. The state is on the hook for the tax credits through 2031 at varying levels, topping off at $607 million by 2029 and declining after.
In other words, Gov. Snyder. just kept it all under wraps until he had secured his reelection. To say that Michigan voters were duped is to put it far too mildly.
And, secondly, despite this self-inflicted budget disaster, Senate Republicans are still still moving forward with plans to spend up to $70 million on new office space.
That’s Michigan Republican “small government” hypocrisy in action. |
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Sat May 30, 2015 4:05 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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http://housedems.com/article/house-dems-reconsider-budget-busting-medc-tax-credits
House Dems: Reconsider Budget-Busting MEDC Tax Credits
Families shouldn’t pay for looming deficit caused by corporate tax breaks
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
LANSING – With the state facing a deficit and the governor contemplating program cuts, the Michigan House Democrats are demanding a budget that requires big corporations to come back to the table and pay their fair share, instead of yet another budget that forces Michigan families and students to make sacrifices.
“Gov. Rick Snyder and legislative Republicans have made giving handouts to big corporations their priority for the past four years, and now we have a looming deficit to show for it,” House Democratic Leader Tim Greimel (D-Auburn Hills) said. “This deficit was caused by runaway corporate incentives through the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and unprecedented tax breaks for big corporations, without any requirement that those tax breaks lead to job creation. All parties need to come back to the table and start by reconsidering these budget-busting tax breaks for handpicked corporations.”
It’s widely anticipated that Gov. Rick Snyder will announce budget cuts this week that threaten to limit services Michigan citizens rely on. Additionally, it’s anticipated that the governor and legislative Republicans will propose raiding money in the School Aid Fund that should go toward educating Michigan children.
“Michigan has dug itself into a hole by giving corporations tax breaks hand-over-fist,” said Rep. Brandon Dillon (D-Grand Rapids), a member of the House Appropriations Committee. “We need to close the deficit by fixing the problem of rampant corporate tax breaks. Otherwise, we’ll find ourselves in the same situation again down the road.”
Regular working families and students have been forced to sacrifice for the corporate handouts through an increased tax burden and crippling cuts to public school funding. Since 2011, Republicans have reduced taxes on big corporations by more than $1.7 billion, while increasing the tax burden on families and seniors. At the same time, legislative Republicans slashed per-pupil school funding.
“Michigan families and students have already made too many sacrifices to pay for sweetheart tax credits for a small group of already profitable businesses,” said Rep. Jon Hoadley (D-Kalamazoo), a House Appropriations Committee member. “The School Aid Fund should be invested in our schools, not used to patch holes caused by business tax cuts.”
Rather than punishing working families for tax and economic development policies that didn’t work, House Democrats demand the MEDC be held accountable for the incentives it gives corporations, and for big corporations to pay their fair share.
“For too long, I’ve seen state resources pay for corporate handouts that haven’t created jobs rather than invested in communities, where they would benefit families and schools,” House Appropriations Committee member Sarah Roberts (D-St. Clair Shores) said. “Those funds need to be returned to the taxpayers who paid them in the form of programs and community investments that benefit everyone.”
“Michigan families have been asked to shoulder the burden of balancing the state budget for the last four years. It’s unreasonable to put to further strain on their household budgets,” House Democratic Floor Leader Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) said. “We need a tax structure that helps build a stronger Michigan and allows us to invest in critical areas. Part of our current budget troubles stem from handouts and tax breaks for big corporations. It’s time to reevaluate the effectiveness of these handouts and weigh them against the best interests of the state as a whole.” |
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Sat May 30, 2015 4:08 pm |
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