So our dead-broke state has millions for Fortune 500 corporations but not enough money to educate our poorest, most vulnerable children.
It’s something to keep in mind the next time the governor tells you it’s all about the kids.
ConAgra is a food-producing conglomerate that makes everything from Healthy Choice to Slim Jim and has been based in Omaha, Nebraska, for years.
In the last few years its sales have been falling, so the company decided to cut 1,500 jobs and move the corporate headquarters to Chicago. To accommodate its needs, Governor Rauner’s giving ConAgra tax credits so it’ll move into the Merchandise Mart. It’s sort of like he’s rewarding them for firing all those people back in Nebraska.
This is the same Governor Rauner who says we have to obliterate unions in order to foster free, unfettered markets. I’m not sure how giving one corporation an edge over its competitors is fostering free markets. Unless some markets are freer than others.
So far the governor won’t come right out and say exactly how much the tax credits will cost the state. But the Tribune calculates it could be between $630,000 and $1.26 million a year, depending on how many workers the company relocates. The tax credits come from the Economic Development for a Growing Economy Tax Credit Program—aka EDGE—a program that allows the governor to dole out tax credits to businesses that move to Illinois.
By giving that money to ConAgra, Rauner ensures it won’t be on hand to help kids in those overcrowded special-ed classes, or to help all the other social service providers whose budgets he’s cutting as part of his effort to get Democrats to pass his antiunion legislation.
“We look forward to the opportunities created by ConAgra’s decision to invest in Illinois, and welcome them to their new home,” Rauner said in a press statement.
Invest in Illinois? It’s more like we’re investing in ConAgra. If Slim Jim sales go up, I want a cut of the profits!