JobsOhio President and CEO JP Nauseef (left) with Governor Mike DeWine and First Lady Fran DeWine during a groundbreaking ceremony for an Intel semiconductor manufacturing facility on September 9, 2022, in Licking County, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal / Repost photo with original story only)
Once political and Ohio is now expected to be an economic powerhouse lose 675 thousand According to the state Department of Development by 2050 in a recent study, an overwhelming majority of economists said this was due to a lack of sufficient employment opportunities.
The bad news comes after more than a decade during which state Republican leaders have handed out billions in tax breaks and other incentives largely aimed at the wealthy on the promise that they will create jobs.
Ohio, currently the seventh most populous state, will be overtaken in population by Georgia and North Carolina around 2030, according to the Department of Development. reportwhich was released last year.
A 2022 report from the Greater Ohio Policy Center found that the state’s workforce decreased by 91 thousand between 2000 and 2020 – a pretty good indicator that a frail labor market is to blame for the Buckeye State’s slowing population growth.
In a survey conducted by Scioto Analysis in delayed December, economists agreed that jobs and growth are linked. When asked if they agreed that ““Employment opportunities are a major contributor to the current population growth trend in Ohio,” 20 people agreed, one disagreed and two were unsure.
In a commentary on the survey, Kathryn Wilson of Kent State University listed which places in Ohio are populated Is growth confirms the link between economic opportunities and population trends. Unlike most other counties, the population of Franklin and five others in central Ohio is expected to grow, in some cases significantly.
“Employment opportunities play a role on both sides of the ledger,” Wilson wrote. “Areas around Columbus that are seeing population growth are also seeing job growth. Other areas of the state that are seeing less job growth are seeing a net migration of people.”
Andy Welki of John Carroll University put it more succinctly.
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“Self-interest drives individual choices,” he wrote. “People follow economic opportunities.”
The bitter news about Ohio’s growth comes after the state’s Republican leaders spent billions on promises that the spending would create jobs.
In 2011, then-Gov. John Kasich led the effort to create what JobsOhio has today enormous, well-paid staff. The organization claims to be a private company and was created by the legislator.
Without bidding, the state-owned alcohol franchise was allowed to be leased for less than it was worth. And a year ago, the board was chaired by the current governor. Mike DeWine extends lease through 2053 – without requiring JobsOhio to pay taxpayers any additional money.
Taxpayers have now given up more than $1 billion they would have received from alcohol franchises. JobsOhio awarded this money in the form of business incentives, but it happened tried to show that it had created any jobs.
DeWine also donated billions to the Central Ohio chipmaker for a project that aims to: may never become a reality. Additionally, his administration provided incentives for low-employment data centers, which one analysis found came at a cost to taxpayers $1 million for each job created.
In addition, in 2013, Kasich signed an act on tax relief for constrained liability companies heavily tilted in favor of wealthy Ohioans. It was again promised that this would create jobs.
This tax break costs Ohioans approximately $1 billion a year. But Ohio now has citizenship sixth highest unemployment. So this doesn’t seem to be working either.
