State’s Fiscal Responsibility Concerning Job Creation Has Wasted Billions

Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan has been quiet lately. Well, not so much quiet as being drowned out by more current incompetence from the likes of Mamdani, Newsom, Spanberger, and Seattle mayor Katie Wison. That said, the kind of ineptitude that Whitmer manifests can’t stay out of the headlines for long.

Speaking of headlines, Witmer made some big ones when she promised "generational" investments in her state, but as she leaves office, there's little to show for it. That’s nothing unusual for Democrats. They have a penchant for promising big things and failing to deliver.

One of their favorite ways to do this is to award taxpayer money to private companies, with the promise that the money will incentivize the company to create jobs and generate wealth that otherwise would not be available.

However, the problem is that, more often than not, the results never come close to what was promised, and the money is either lost or “evaporates,” and the taxpayers are left holding the bag.

James M. Hohman, director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, wrote this report.

"Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer offered billions of taxpayer dollars to select companies in an effort to create jobs during her eight-year term. Overall, she has authorized $6.9 billion for business subsidies since gaining office in 2019."

In the report, Hohman examined eight major projects, "those that offered $100 million in payments and received significant media attention,” that together totaled $2.7 billion in promised incentives.

Upon examination, the results, not surprisingly, weren’t close to meeting what was promised. In fact, calling the results dismal would be an understatement.

Hohman reports:

"None of these deals has delivered what was originally announced. All told, the governor said that her major subsidy projects would create 20,595 jobs in Michigan. So far, these deals have created 602 jobs, just 3 percent of expectations. Of the $2.7 billion offered, $1.8 billion has been spent—transferred either to companies or to local economic development agencies."

The $1.8 billion investment created 602 jobs, costing about $3 million per job.

The report went on to clarify:

“An assessment of major subsidy deals announced on the front page of the state’s largest newspaper between 2000 and 2020 found that companies produced just 9 percent of the jobs promised when the deals were made. In other words, when public officials announce that an agreement with a company will create 1,000 jobs, only 90 jobs materialized, on average.”

Whitmer's performance is below the 20-year average, delivering only 3 percent of the 20,595 jobs that were promised in the deal.

The report went on to say:

“The failure of these major deals may have lawmakers looking more skeptically at economic development deals like these. Indeed, the Legislature did not authorize any new business subsidies in 2025, the first time since at least 2000. Voters, too, should be more skeptical. The Whitmer administration’s track record shows that marquee economic development deals rarely work out as announced and that selective business subsidies fail to drive economic growth.”

The real problem is that these big promises always glorify the person making them; in this case, Whitmer looked like a hero with all the big headlines and promises. Yet when they fail and what was promised isn’t delivered, no one is held accountable, and equally as bad, no one ever explains where the money went.

These companies accepted $1.8 billion and promised to create 20,595 jobs, but only a paltry 602 were created. That equates to $3 million per job. So where did the money go? Questions need to be asked, heads need to roll, and money needs to be reimbursed. This is a monumental calamity, and the money needs to be tracked down and accounted for.

Remember, these companies were specifically selected; with results this bad, the question “Why” must also be asked.