Rep. DeBoyer: MEDC hiding SOAR corporate welfare failures by renegotiating contracts - The Midwesterner

Records show the Michigan Business Development Program, launched in 2012, has provided 271 businesses a total of $289.8 million in incentives  - Victor Skinner

So far, the agency headed by appointees of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has recovered roughly $18.3 million, though the MEDC is shielding other failures by renegotiating some of its biggest taxpayer-funded incentives when companies fail to meet hiring and investment metrics, according to The Detroit News.

“I think it’s important to recognize, instead of acknowledging failures, they just renegotiate the contract on what they’re able to accomplish,” state Rep. Jay DeBoyer, the Clay Twp. Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, told the news site. “Imagine doing that with your kid when it comes to doing their chores.”

Sixty-two or 23% of those deals were canceled or are in repayment because grantees did not fulfill their requirements, while another 21 are in default or have declared bankruptcy. 

Sixty-seven, or about a quarter, were contracted last year, according to records reviewed by The News...