2019 House Bill 4189 ↩

Senate Roll Call 202: Passed

To prohibit state economic development officials from modifying one of the agreements entered with a relative handful of large companies mostly in the late 2000s that granted them up to $9 billion worth of state taxpayer subsidies (styled as “refundable business tax credits”) over a 20 year period. Specifically, the agreements could not be changed in a way that increases the payouts or extends them. However, the bill makes an exception for subsidies granted to Federal Mogul company in the 2000s, so that the company that bought the firm in 2018 (Tenneco) can collect additional subsidies on a Michigan facility said to be worth around $12 million, on top of some $60 million already given to the owners of this facility over the years. The bill would also repeal the Michigan Business Tax Act after December 31, 2031, which is no longer levied and remains in statute only to enable these MEGA subsidies and some others, so its repeal would put an end-date on them.