By Caleb Taylor
ACRE Policy Analyst Jacob Bundrick answered questions from members of the State Agencies & Government Affairs – Senate Constitutional Issues Subcommittee on Tuesday, February 20th about Arkansas economic development incentives.
Bundrick explained the conclusions of a working paper by him and ACRE Scholar Dr. Tom Snyder, UCA Associate Professor of Economics, titled “Do Business Subsidies Lead to Increased Economic Activity? Evidence from Arkansas’s Quick Action Closing Fund” which takes an empirical dive into the relationship between Quick Action Closing Fund (QACF) subsidies and private employment and private establishments in Arkansas’s counties. A one-page infographic of their findings can be read here.
This was Bundrick’s second trip to the Capitol to visit with this committee about the issue. You can read about his visit on Feb. 5th here.
Mike Preston, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, also spoke to the committee in defense of QACF subsidies.
Bundrick’s comments at the meeting were quoted in articles in Talk Business & Politics and Arkansas Business.
For more on the pros and cons of targeted economic development incentives, be sure to check out Bundrick’s Policy Review Tax Breaks & Subsidies: Challenging the Arkansas Status Quo.