LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Legislature concluded the 2025 session without approving any new business subsidy programs, marking the first time in decades that lawmakers have refrained from spending public money on targeted corporate incentives.

The 2025 session marked a notable break from recent legislative patterns. State legislators have authorized $23.2 billion in taxpayer-funded business subsidy programs, according to the Mackinac Center’s Business Subsidy Scorecard, which tracks subsidy approvals beginning in 2000.

This reform came amid growing skepticism of scandal-ridden business subsidy programs as well as bipartisan disagreement between Michigan’s Republican controlled House and Democratic controlled Senate. 

“This is a welcome development for Michigan taxpayers,” said James Hohman, director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. “Business subsidy deals simply do not work. Lawmakers are sold big promises, but the outcome is the same: one job delivered for every 11 promised.”

Historically, legislators have handed out business subsidies in hope of attracting developers, filmmakers, battery manufacturers, and various “green energy” projects. Yet these programs fall short of their promised outcomes. Despite projections that major deals would create tens of thousands of jobs, actual results have consistently lagged expectations.

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy “Front Page Failures” study analyzed 20 years’ worth of business subsidy deals, which cost Michigan taxpayers millions but only delivered one in 11 of the promised jobs.