December 21, 2011 | 9:00 AM | By

Report: D.C.’s Subsidies Have Few Job Creation Requirements

Perhaps creating more jobs is a way to lessen D.C.’s unemployment disparities. But do government subsidies to private developers spur such economic development? According to a new report by nonprofit Good Jobs First, the subsidies the D.C. government currently provides to developers include few requirements for job creation, wage levels or employee health benefits. D.C. has the fewest requirements of anywhere else in the country, when comparing the District to all 50 states.

According to the report, the only District subsidy program that requires developers to meet any performance benchmarks is the New E-Conomy Transformation Act of 2000 (NET 2000). The report finds that in most states, economic development programs at least have job creation requirements to ensure that subsidies will create more jobs. DC’s main economic development programs, like TIF and tax abatements, by contrast, do not make such demands.

Read more at: www.dcfpi.org