The Denver Gazette reports that Colorado’s Economic Development Commission just handed out the last of its currently allocated semiconductor tax incentives, at least for now, to lure more advanced manufacturing and quantum work into the state.
The big prize went to an unnamed quantum company operating under the deeply serious action-movie label “Project Laser.” The company is considering an 80,000- to 100,000-square-foot research and development facility in the Denver metro area, with up to 225 jobs over eight years. Colorado approved up to $4.4 million in job growth tax incentives, plus $9 million in CHIPS Refundable Tax Credits.
The company may be terrific. Quantum may be important. Jobs are good. But normal Coloradans are getting squeezed from every direction while state government tells them to tighten up and trust the process. Then, when a company shows up with the right buzzwords and a codename, the money cannon suddenly works just fine.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Colorado’s Economic Development Commission approved incentives for “Project Laser,” an unnamed quantum company considering Colorado against Chicago. Apparently “public money” now comes with a spy-novel nickname and a confidentiality curtain.
- The package includes up to $4.4 million in job growth tax incentives for as many as 225 jobs over eight years, plus $9 million in CHIPS Refundable Tax Credits. That is not pocket change. That is taxpayer-backed courtship with mood lighting.
- The $9 million uses the last of Colorado’s currently available semiconductor tax credits for the next three fiscal years. Translation: the cookie jar is empty, which means the next political speech will probably be about how urgently we need to refill the cookie jar.
- State officials say the CHIPS credit program has supported 12 companies, up to 4,300 new jobs, and $3.2 billion in capital investment. Those are real numbers worth discussing. They are not a magic spell that makes transparency optional.
- The commission also approved $1.1 million in job growth tax incentives for “Project Shift,” a company looking at Logan County for a plant that would use crop waste to make single-use packaging and food-serving utensils. It is also considering northern France, because nothing says Colorado economic development like bidding against croissants.
My Bottom Line
I am not anti-business. I am anti-mugging. If Colorado wants high-tech manufacturing, quantum jobs, aerospace growth, and serious private investment, fine. Compete. Build. Recruit. But do not lecture working families about fees, housing costs, energy costs, TABOR gymnastics, and “shared sacrifice,” then slip millions in tax goodies to an unnamed company behind the label “Project Laser.”
That is the double standard. When taxpayers ask for relief, the ruling class puts on its green eyeshade and starts mumbling about fiscal responsibility. When a politically fashionable industry says “semiconductor,” “quantum,” or “future economy,” the same people turn into corporate Santa Claus with a state email address. Ho ho ho, here is your refundable tax credit. The rest of you can enjoy another fee increase and a stern webinar.
Maybe this company is great. Maybe Colorado beats Chicago and lands a real gem. Good. But if public money is involved, the public deserves more than “trust us, bro, it’s Project Laser.” Confidentiality may protect negotiations, but it also protects the system from scrutiny. Taxpayers are funding the courtship dance while being told they cannot see the prenup.
Colorado politicians love “transparency” right up until someone with a lobbyist, an acronym, or a lab coat asks for a tax break. Then democracy gets wrapped in an NDA and shoved into a filing cabinet. That is not visionary industrial strategy. That is anonymous corporate welfare wearing safety goggles.
Source: The Denver Gazette
Now It's Your Turn...