Alan Greenblatt is a GOVERNING correspondent.
E-mail: mailbox@governing.comTwitter: @governing
Economic Development
Rewarding The Right Location
Illinois offers incentives for linking workplace with workforce.
Several states have tried to promote "smart growth" by limiting the roads, sewers and other infrastructure they are willing to build in undeveloped areas. Illinois is taking a different tack. Under a new law, the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity can offer extra tax breaks to companies or developers that site their projects in areas that already have mass transit or affordable housing nearby.
The idea is not so much to limit development as provide incentives for businesses to locate where there is a surplus of workers. "We know where people live, but the jobs are getting out of reach for some of them," says state Representative Kathleen Ryg, the bill's primary sponsor.
Low-income city dwellers who can't afford cars and are cut off from employment are only part of the economic issue, adds Frank Beal, executive director of Chicago Metropolis 2020, a business-backed group that supports mass transit and better planning. "There's a real dollar cost to businesses of having a workforce a great distance from the jobs," he says.
Companies that qualify for the tax break would only be eligible for a 10 percent boost over the amount of tax credits they might receive otherwise--a compromise to meet concerns of commerce department officials who had opposed earlier versions of the bill, wanting to keep a free hand to reward companies in any way that might attract jobs. The compromise version, says state Senator Terry Link, another bill sponsor, is "more a first step than anything else. It's not mandating the state to do it, but it's giving them the opportunity to reward these businesses."
If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for updates.
Latest from Economic Development
- Which States Accepted the Most Refugees in 2012?
- Millions of federal dollars flow every year through the states and a network of relief organizations to help refugees find housing, health care and jobs.
- California Governor Heads to China Seeking Big Investments
- In his first official trip abroad since taking office in 2011, Gov. Jerry Brown is going to China to promote California exports, tourism and greenhouse gas reduction policies, and to open a foreign trade office in Shanghai.
- Government Employment Changes Little as Job Growth Slows
- The U.S. economy added only 88,000 jobs last month, far below economists' expectations.
- Job Skills Gap a Growing Concern in Cities
- Cities coming out of the recession are facing new challenges with matching their workforce to available jobs, a problem that could be an early indicator of a growing national problem.
- Feds Accuse Oregon of Segregating Disabled in Sheltered Jobs
- Oregon unlawfully segregates people with disabilities in sheltered workshops instead of providing them more work opportunities in the public midst, federal authorities allege.
GOVERNING Data
- Gay Marriage States Map
- Map shows state laws legalizing or prohibiting gay marriage and civil unions.
- 2012 Population Estimates for Metro Areas
- Public Transit Agency Ridership Statistics
- Average Tax Refund by State
- Which Services Are Citizens Most, Least Satisfied With?
- 2013 State of the State Speeches Word Cloud
Events & Webinars
- It’s A Paperless, Paperless World..... Thinking Outside the Box to Gain Efficiencies through Prepaid Cards
- April 23, 2013
- Public sector organizations are under intense scrutiny to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible and with maximum transparency. An important consideration is the way in which payments are made and managed. Prepaid cards can offer flexibility, security and accountability to governments as a method of dispersing benefits, healthcare and social care payments, child benefits and housing benefits to their constituents.
- GOVERNING - Michigan Leadership Forum 2013
- May 1, 2013
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
YouTube
Flickr
RSS
© 2011 e.Republic, Inc. All Rights reserved. |