The Michigan Senate voted Tuesday to expand a program to repurpose land that’s not being used anymore, like old factories or office buildings.
The brownfield program lets businesses that build on those rundown places apply to keep part of the new tax revenue the development raises.
That’s instead of the money going to the state. There are two types of plans that projects could apply for, a traditional brownfield plan and a transformational one. A transformational plan has more requirements but also has a broader range of tax revenue that a business could keep.
The Senate bills would make several changes to the program. The legislation would get rid of a time limit for the state to approve new projects and increase the total value of the taxes the state could divert for the program from $1.6 billion to $3.5 billion. It would also create a website for the public to see approved projects and require plans to claim a bigger share of income tax revenue if they create a certain amount of jobs.
The bills’ wording would stop companies from moving existing employees to the new site to try to claim more revenue. Aside from that, the bills would send more money toward affordable housing and childcare. State Senator Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) said the changes would hold the program more accountable.
“Being able to frankly improve on a program that was working well in the past, to bring more transparency, diversify where these locations can be across the state, and ensure that it is actually being used to be transformative is something that I think is really positive,” McMorrow said.
The bills passed the Senate with bipartisan support and opposition Tuesday. Critics have argued the state shouldn’t be giving large, and often already profitable, businesses money to build here. Tuesday also saw the Senate pass bills to create a new board to plan the state’s economic development strategy. The Strategic Advisory Board’s members would come from a range of different interest areas, including business, transit, community development, housing, education, rural development, manufacturing, and the environment.
The idea is the board would create some stability because economic strategy no longer sways as drastically depending on who won the latest election. Instead, the bills specifically name which groups would get a spot on the board. McMorrow co-sponsored the package. She said the bills would lessen partisanship.
“The board works within itself to develop this plan, develop their own voting members and take it from there. We’re really taking our hands off, letting them take a look at the status of economic development in the state and plan a map forward. And I look forward to reviewing it when their work is done,” McMorrow said. The board’s plan would lay out strategies for population growth, improving Michigan’s quality of life, and bringing investment to the state across the next ten years.
Despite having a Republican co-sponsor, many Senate Republicans voted against the package. State Senator Thomas Albert (R-Lowell) said the bills still don’t fix what he sees as a problem with the state giving businesses money to locate here.
“The bills would create a bureaucratic nightmare that smacks of government-driven state-directed economy. A board of roughly some 130 people overall, coming up with recommendations for a ten-year economic development plan,” Albert said.
Only a fraction of the board would be able to vote on recommendations. The bills now head to the Republican-led state House of Representatives.
