HB 1426 – Economic incentives accountability. Rep. Austin. Requires the Indiana economic development corporation to report semiannually on certain tax credits, loans, and grants provided by the state and on the level of compliance by recipients with representations made to obtain the benefits.
The report has to include at least the following:
(A) Tax credits applied in the state.
(B) Loans made in the state.
(C) Grants given in the state.
Also, with respect to each recipient of a tax credit, loan, or grant:
(A) The name and address of the recipient.
(B) The amount of the tax credit, loan, or grant.
(C) The purpose of the tax credit, loan, or grant.
(D) Representations of the following made by the recipient at the time of application for the tax credit, loan, or grant:
(i) Numbers of employees to be hired, retained, or trained.
(ii) Average wage or compensation that will be provided to employees to be hired, retained, or trained.
(iii) Other benefits to be provided to employees to be hired, retained, or trained.
And, finally, the extent to which the credit, loan, or grant recipient complied with those representations.
I have mixed feelings about this bill. On the one hand, it’s a good idea to make sure that businesses aren’t coming around with their hands out for economic development packages, promising the moon to get them, and then turning around and renegging on their promises. On the other hand, another layer of bureaucracy is created. Nobody in the House had mixed feelings, apparently – Passed the House 95 to 0.
Technorati Tags: HB1426-2007, taxes
Doug,
I see this as an essential part of playing the government handout game. Nobody seems to think that FSSA or Medicaid shouldn’t turn the hairy eyeball towards all their aid recipients for fear of the “limo-riding welfare queen” scenario.
Why shouldn’t corporate “artificial persons”, from which society expects profit-seeking behavior in the first place, even be held up to some fig leaf of an analogous standard?
Rep. Austin: GOOD
I’d rather see the corporate handouts go away entirely. No new bureaucracy needed.
Mike Kole,
Given that there is no bill pending to end all corporate handouts, I’ll accept better accountability of the handouts that do go on.