State Reps. Steve Carra and Jay DeBoyer today announced legislation to abolish the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, which they called wasteful and ineffective.

They aren’t the only ones who feel that way; there is widespread discontent with the MEDC within the Legislature. High-ranking lawmakers from both political parties have publicly expressed frustration with the organization because it has consistently failed to deliver results.

According to a recent study by the Mackinac Center, for the period from 2000 to 2020, only 1 out of every 11 jobs announced in major state-sponsored deals ever actually materialized. (The exact stat is 123,060 jobs promised, but only 10,889 created.) That’s an abysmal 9% success rate, despite the MEDC giving out billions of tax dollars in the form of corporate subsidies.

“The MEDC has a proven record of failure,” said Carra, R-Three Rivers. “It’s time to give up on this flawed idea that government bureaucrats can pick winners better than the free market. Instead of providing corporate subsidies to a few politically well-connected companies and raising taxes on everyone else to pay for it, we should lower taxes for everyone and create a business-friendly environment by cutting unnecessary regulations.”

Carra serves as chair of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Corporate Subsidies and State investments.

The two-bill package will be officially introduced during House session on Wednesday. One of bills amends the Michigan Strategic Fund Act to abolish the MEDC. The other amends the Urban Cooperation Act to prohibit the Michigan Strategic Fund from contracting with local governments for the purpose of economic development.

Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay Township, serves as chair of the full House Oversight Committee. He said the MEDC is beyond repair.

“From abuse and misuse with multi-million-dollar grants to greenlighting taxpayer-funded corporate giveaways that vastly underdeliver, the MEDC has failed this state and the residents and communities it represents,” DeBoyer said. “This is past repudiation or repair. It is time to fundamentally start over and go forward with methods of economic development that are forthright, efficient, and truly provide return on tax dollars. What we have seen from MEDC should not and cannot be the status quo in state government.”

In August, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, suggested halting all funding for the MEDC because of how it had “stonewalled” an investigation involving a now-former board member who received a $20 million grant from the state and then spent $4,500 of taxpayer money on a high-end coffeemaker and paid herself a $550,000 annual salary.