States rethinking tax credits as job creation tool

Want to create jobs? Just create a tax credit for businesses.

For decades, that’s how many governors and state lawmakers have approached economic development. But with budget deficits collectively in the billions of dollars and unemployment rates still uncomfortably high, some state officials have begun to rethink whether the jobs promised from tax credits are worth the drain on state funds that could go to public schools and services.

Perhaps nowhere is the tax credit tension more evident than in Missouri, where lawmakers have convened a special session to consider scaling back several existing tax credits in order to finance new tax incentives targeting a variety of business interests – from Chinese cargo planes to computer data centers, high-tech companies and even the organizers of major sporting events.

By DAVID A. LIEB – Associated Press

Full Story: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/09/10/1793432/states-rethinking-tax-credits.html