LANSING, Mich. — Sen. Thomas Albert on Tuesday reintroduced legislation to eliminate the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) Fund, while also calling for the responsible dismantling of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
“We must fundamentally change how we approach economic development in Michigan —because corporate welfare and the MEDC are failing miserably,” said Albert, R-Lowell. “It’s been one disaster after another, and Michigan taxpayers deserve much better.”
Senate Bills 486 through 491 would repeal SOAR, which started as a $1 billion program in 2021 and has since “spiraled out of control with no common sense, accountability or return on investment,” Albert said.
Albert originally supported SOAR but has consistently voted against funding the program and its escalating project costs since late 2022. In recent years, the Legislature has appropriated $500 million annually to SOAR, with little to nothing to show for it.
“Projects have either never materialized or, in cases such as the Marshall mega-site, have cost far more than they are ever going to be worth to taxpayers,” Albert said. “SOAR has failed to deliver on its promised quality investments and is a lesson on the failures of big government economic planning. The program is not working as intended and should be scrapped.”
Albert’s legislation calls for returning all unused SOAR funds to the state’s general fund, where it could be used for other purposes, such as road repairs or returned to taxpayers.
The legislation also would ban elected state and local officials from signing nondisclosure agreements related to economic development projects using public funds. Albert previously signed a nondisclosure agreement in his role as the House Appropriations Committee chair, but he rescinded that agreement in early 2023 — saying NDAs have no benefit and were misused by the MEDC to create a “culture of secrecy.” The legislation also calls for monitoring already approved SOAR projects through the Economic Development Incentive Evaluation Act, which was created by an Albert bill in 2018 to independently examine whether specific economic development programs are worth the cost to taxpayers.
Albert also announced he is working on future legislation to responsibly dismantle MEDC. The goal is to eliminate the agency and most of its programs, with any initiatives that are deemed worthwhile assigned to different state agencies with more transparency and legislative oversight.
“MEDC has funneled billions of tax dollars to huge corporations, risky startups and politically connected grant recipients without any real accountability in the process — and that’s why there have been so many problems,” Albert said. “We’d be much better off reinvesting some of this money into road repairs and community improvements and using the rest to lower taxes overall so Michigan becomes a more attractive place to live for everyone.”
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