@goodjobsfirst.org
Good Jobs First has since 1998 been a leading watchdog on economic development subsidies. We also expose corporate crimes. site: www.goodjobsfirst.org trackers: goodjobsfirst.org/databases newsletter: www.goodjobsfirst.org/subscribe
A recent industry piece in @pilotonline.com argues Virginia must preserve its data center tax breaks to protect its “competitive edge.” But if lawmakers stop subsidizing some of the world’s richest companies, will data center companies really flee?
The tl;dr: No.
goodjobsfirst.org/virginias-da...
Oversight on Thin ICE: Inside the Companies Enforcing Federal Immigration Policy. There is a collage showing immigration over the years and the Statue of Liberty
🚨NEW ANALYSIS 🚨
Public money for immigration enforcement is flowing to a small number of corporations with long regulatory rap sheets.
Read our new report about the $4 billion per year (and growing!) private ICE contractor business:
goodjobsfirst.org/ice-contract...
Excellent point, Utah resident Lionel Trepanier:
“This is real. This is people’s lives. The choices are being made between, what? Childhood and maternity care and giving a subsidy to the biggest oil producer in Utah?”
www.utahinvestigative.org/tax-credit-f...
Oversight on Thin ICE Inside the Companies Enforcing Federal Immigration Policy
🚨NEW ANALYSIS 🚨
Public money for immigration enforcement is flowing to a small number of corporations with long regulatory rap sheets. Read our new report about the $4 billion per year private ICE contractor business: goodjobsfirst.org/ice-contract...
Given the demands of hyperscale data centers, can these huge, extractive facilities ever be modified in ways that are actually win-win for communities where they are built? Good Jobs First director Greg LeRoy is concerned that community benefit agreements could get abused by data center developers.
For years, states raced to give hyperscale data centers bigger tax breaks and faster approvals.
Now, places like Illinois and Texas are considering moratoriums to hit pause, study the costs, and protect residents and ratepayers.
Let's do this thing.
goodjobsfirst.org/data-center-...
Lincoln, Nebraska is taking an unusual approach with Tax Increment Financing: it's using the program to boost its affordable housing stock.
Landlords get $15,000 per unit, and in exchange must accept vouchers & keep rents below HUD limits for 20 years.
goodjobsfirst.org/lincolns-exe...
Take a listen, then read our full report here: goodjobsfirst.org/worker-prote...
About 60% of Missourians would experience a net tax increase under Gov. Kehoe’s plan, according to @itep.org analyst Eli Byerly-Duke.
Households with a yearly income of $65k would see a $500 tax increase each year, he says, while households in the top 1% would see an average tax cut of nearly $40k.
Amidst rollbacks of federal workplace safety standards, Colorado is moving to improve protections for its own workers. A new bill would create easier avenues for workers seeking remedies for workplace hazards.
States can follow Colorado's lead:
goodjobsfirst.org/colorado-mov...
This seems of massive significance to me. They may not be doing it for the reasons I think they should but the fact "95% of UK card transactions are made using payment systems owned by Mastercard & Visa" is a market-domination, national security problem that should've been addressed a long time ago
Seems like the lack of development associated with stadiums is something that should have been emphasized when the stadium plan was still under consideration. Instead, the publisher was using his paper to lead the charge to get it approved.
Of 154 prominent statements claiming AI will help solve the climate crisis, 74% are unproven, and nearly 4 in 10 cited no evidence at all, per the report.
For more of our work on data centers, head one over to our project page: goodjobsfirst.org/data-center-...
Georgia is draining billions from schools, services, and communities, to subsidize some of the most profitable corporations on earth.
It's long past time to stop any new data center subsidies, and end existing tax breaks.
goodjobsfirst.org/georgia-data...
If companies like Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon had paid sales taxes in 2025, the audit said, the revenue could have funded nearly 8,000 public sector jobs in education, healthcare, and public safety.
goodjobsfirst.org/clouded-judg...
Would data centers come without the subsidy?
A University of Georgia audit found In FY 2025, data centers brought in $41 million in revenue ... but received $474 million in exemptions.
Even more striking: 70% of projects would have located in Georgia anyway.
goodjobsfirst.org/clouded-judg...
And that $2.5 billion Georgia residents will give to Big Tech in tax beaks in a single year?
It doesn’t include:
🚨Potential power rate hikes for residents
🚨Additional local *property* tax breaks
goodjobsfirst.org/georgia-data...
Georgia isn’t alone.
Virginia lost $1.6 billion to data center subsidies in FY 2025.
In Georgia, $1.1 billion of the $2.5 billion loss comes from local sales tax exemptions, meaning cities and counties lose too.
goodjobsfirst.org/virginia-tax...
Some of the world's richest men are the biggest recipient of the government handouts.
“States must stop creating new incentive programs for data centers, and pause existing ones like Georgia’s,” said @goodjobsfirst.org's @kasia-t.bsky.social.
goodjobsfirst.org/georgia-data...
Georgia is expected to lose $2.5 BILLION to data center sales tax exemptions in FY 2026, according to the state’s updated fiscal projections.
That’s 664% higher than the previous estimate made just a few months earlier of $327 million. 🧵
goodjobsfirst.org/georgia-data...
Last month I joined @goodjobsfirst.org as its research director. And while I’m still very much in learning mode, I had the chance to write a blog on how Lincoln is using TIF to help landlords weatherize and rehab buildings while keeping rents affordable goodjobsfirst.org/lincolns-exe...
Georgia is expected to lose $2.5 billion this year because of data center tax exemptions, according to @goodjobsfirst.org.
goodjobsfirst.org/georgia-data...
A new report from @goodjobsfirst.org finds that handouts to data centers cost Georgia $2.5 billion last year. To put that in perspective, that money could have covered the average salary for 35,000 teachers. goodjobsfirst.org/georgia-data...
New York taxpayers are being asked to give a megadeveloper $801 million for 125 jobs - a cost of $6.4 million per job.
$6.4 million for a probably benefit-less, temp job that won't pay enough to support themselves, let alone a family.
www.investigativepost.org/2026/02/04/d...
The case involves public records on corporate subsidies to Northrop Grumman to support its production of intercontinental ballistic missiles in Utah. cc @goodjobsfirst.org @econliberties.bsky.social @nuclearban.bsky.social
#NukeSky
Want to watch @inkstickmedia.com in court against the world's largest nuclear weapons manufacturer, Northrop Grumman? Our hearing Friday at 9a MT is a virtual public courtroom, meaning anyone can join.
utcourts.webex.com/utcourts/j.p...
Background: inkstick.substack.com/p/our-journa...
"The audit also includes a more comprehensive evaluation of whether the subsidy influences company decision where to locate a project, known as a “but for” analysis. According to the audit, 70% of data center projects would have located in Georgia even without the subsidy"
- @goodjobsfirst.org
Good question.
“Elon Musk is like the wealthiest person alive,” said @goodjobsfirst.org's Kristan Wong Karinen. “He’s supposedly set to be the first trillionaire, so there’s an ethical question here about — I pay my taxes … so why does Elon Musk get a pass?”
www.texastribune.org/2026/01/29/s...
If Microsoft, Google, Meta, Amazon and other tech giants had paid sales taxes on their data centers in 2025, Georgia could have hired 8,000 people to work in education, healthcare, and public safety.
goodjobsfirst.org/clouded-judg...