KEJA
Economic
Justice Policy
Framework
CRITICAL ISSUES 2006-2010
Economic Development
Goal:
Establish a fair and effective economic development system for Kentucky
that promotes a high quality of life for all Kentuckians.
Analysis: Kentucky spends around $800 million dollars a year for economic development programs and tax breaks for businesses. Many lawmakers justify this spending by saying it is necessary to lure jobs.
Yet more than 70% of those pubic dollars are never evaluated for their effectiveness. Despite decades of such give-away programs, Kentucky’s poverty rate and median household income remain stuck near the bottom of all states. In many communities, public investments in industrial recruitment have resulted in empty industrial parks or companies that stay only a few years.
Today there are increasing calls for fresh thinking, greater accountability, and better results from our public investments in economic development.
Principles: Kentucky’s economic development programs should be designed to improve the quality of life of our people.
To move forward as a state, we must invest in education at all levels and in better, more diverse economic development strategies, including entrepreneurship, small business assistance, workforce development, and strengthening regional economies.
We must establish systems that allow for regular, public evaluation of investments in economic development, including on-budget and off-budget spending.
And we must establish and enforce strong “minimum standards” that ensure adequate protection for workers’ rights and safety and environmental quality.
Back to Policy Framework