Article courtesy MIRS News for SBAM’s Lansing Watchdog newsletter
Legislation designed to choke the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) out of existence by ending the state Strategic Fund’s power to engage in the types of interlocal agreements that make the quasi-governmental agency possible was trumpeted Wednesday by key House Republicans.
House Oversight Committee Chair Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay) and Rep. Steve Carra (R-Three Rivers), the chair of the House Corporate Subsidies and State Investments Subcommittee, are spearheading the yet-to-be-introduced bills in reaction to what they say is the MEDC’s failure to create a significant number of jobs considering the billions in dollars in “bribes” it used to entice business to Michigan.
The duo leaned heavily on a 2024 Mackinac Center report that found that among the 123,060 jobs promised by the MEDC from 41 economic development announcements the MEDC helped facilitate with incentives and grants from 2000 to 2020, only 10,889 jobs ever came to be.
“I think the experiment is over,” said DeBoyer, adding that while House Republican caucus members differ on what should be done with the MEDC, “I would say collectively our caucus has come to the determination that the experiment of MEDC and (the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Fund) has failed.”
DeBoyer also referenced a report from Bridge Michigan that from 2019 to 2024, Michigan offered nearly $2.5 billion to companies to expand or build facilities with the promise of creating 65,491 jobs. In all, about $1 billion ended up being spent and 13,089 jobs were created, which averages out to $76,400 per job created.
“You have to remember that these are taxpayers’ dollars,” he said. “These are hard-working taxpayers. These are single mothers. There are married couples, and we’re taking their tax dollars, and we’re writing bribery checks to corporations to convince them to come to Michigan and to develop their business here.”
Gov. John Engler created the MEDC through a 1999 executive order, which authorized a complex series of interlocal agreements. To kill the MEDC, there’s no law the Legislature can repeal. The two bills House Republicans plan to introduce soon don’t eliminate sections of code. Instead, the bills end the MSF’s ability to create interlocal agreements, essentially choking out its participation.
Without the MSF being part of the group, the concept is that the MEDC would die from lack of oxygen.
Reps. Joseph Fox (R-Fremont), James DeSana (R-Carleton), Matt Maddock (R-Milford), Jason Woolford (R-Howell), Tim Kelly (R-Saginaw), William Bruck (R-Erie) and Joseph Pavlov (R-Kimball Township) flanked DeBoyer and Carra during the press conference.
Wednesday’s announcement comes less than a week after Sen. Thomas Albert (R-Lowell) uncorked an enormous bill package that seeks to do the same thing.
It also comes as the Governor, House Speaker and Senate Majority Leader begin work on more economic development tools to take the place of the SOAR Fund, which is dying on the vine due to legislative resistance.
According to the MEDC, its programs and services trained and placed more than 5,950 workers and more than 1,480 interns in jobs in Fiscal Year 2025. It’s also claiming that it helped more than 2,000 new businesses start up, and small businesses secure roughly $2.77 billion in new revenue.
In related news from the day, the MEDC announced a business expansion project in Fenton from Miller Industries that represents a reported $43 million in capital investment and 167 new jobs with a starting salary of $25 an hour plus benefits. The company received a $1 million Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant to aid in the expansion.
Fenton Township has offered industrial property tax abatement worth $6 million over the next 12 years.
Also, the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) recently approved a $133 million project with American Axle in Carra’s district. In July, Michigan was ranked 6th, its highest-ever ranking, on CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business.
“At a time when Michigan is landing record job-creating investment, including in Rep. Carra’s district, we should keep our foot on the gas, not throw everything into reverse,” said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Director of Communications, Bobby Leddy. “The Republican plan would put a ‘closed for business’ sign at Michigan’s border with Ohio and Indiana, killing good-paying jobs and shuttering small businesses across the state.
“These bills are a waste of time, and they are dead on arrival. The Governor has her veto pen ready to prevent these bills from destroying the economy.”
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