Paying for up to 20% (i.e. $40 million) of the costs of Goodyear’s Fayetteville plant upgrade was apparently not good enough for Goodyear. Now the company is asking the state to slash NC’s port fees for rubber import companies by 30%. Is this a savvy public-private partnership or legalized extortion? The line gets blurrier every day. Even the guy who runs our ports called the request “exorbitant.”
Goodyear might not be a pioneer in showing other US tire makers how to make a profit without handouts but it sure is showing other corporations how to get their fair share of public greenbacks. The slope is now officially slippery and other giant corporations will be sliding down in short order no doubt.
On Thursday, Good Jobs First released a report grading state business subsidy disclosure policies. NC managed a "D" grade. Let's hope that NC leaders will take note and take action! Good disclosure is the first step to overcoming this addiction.
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