Fact Sheet: Economic Development Spending Hurts South Carolina’s Economy

In South Carolina, economic incentive spending has been the emerging trend of the last 20 years. In 1994, the state spent $32 million on economic incentives. In 2008, that figure climbed to more than $500 million. Over the past two decades, the legislature has awarded special tax breaks, job credits, exemptions, bonds, and other preferential [...]

A Review of the Sembler and Bass Pro Shops Incentives Legislation

Are Retail Incentives Constitutional? A Review of the Sembler and Bass Pro Shops Incentives Legislation   Are economic development incentives constitutional? If the state’s frequent reliance on such incentives to attract firms like Boeing is any indication, the answer would seem to be an obvious yes. But that does not mean all incentives would pass [...]

Fact Sheet on H 4478: The S.C. Economic Development Competitiveness Act of 2010

Sponsored by House Speaker Bobby Harrell and 108 other representatives, the Economic Development Competitiveness Act is the product of Speaker Harrell’s economic development working group. This 49-page bill combines a few good ideas with several bad ones. Paramount among the good ideas is the elimination of the corporate income tax. But this is clearly the [...]

Economic Incentives Could Cost Taxpayers for Years to Come

Imagine a business plan based on overly optimistic results, an underreporting of costs and a desire to conceal essential data from key stakeholders. If the result does not sound promising, then it should come as no surprise that the state’s long experiment with economic incentive deals is failing. Consider the following: Read more…

The Best & Worst to Come: A Review of Economic Development Policy for 2009-2010

As we review the best and worst economic development legislation of 2009, it’s also time to begin to consider what ideas are likely to resurface in 2010. Politicians in South Carolina continue to believe they can decide what the next-best industry will be and then use taxpayer dollars to grow and foster the economy. But [...]

Innovista: A Public-Private Partnership That’s All Public

It would appear the “private” aspect of Innovista, originally touted as a “public-private partnership,” is all but dead. To date, USC’s research campus, which has cost taxpayers more than $100 million, has just a single tenant, the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health. In late July, USC announced that the Moore School [...]

Innovista: State-Driven Economy Struggling Despite $140 Million in Taxpayer Support

When plans for Innovista, the University of South Carolina’s 500-acre research campus, were rolled out in 2005, it was touted as a can’t-miss project that would become a driving force for the area’s economy. When completed, Innovista will create thousands of research and technology jobs and will have an estimated annual economic impact of $430 [...]