Snyder signs bill to give tax breaks for Michigan jobs

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (WJBK) - Governor Rick Snyder has signed a bill that gives tax breaks to companies that create jobs in Michigan with the hope of it luring big companies to the state. Critics worry the payoff may not be worth the break.

Governor Snyder signed the Good Jobs for Michigan legislation on Wednesday at an empty industrial property in Rochester Hills. The scene was a change from the state capitol to show that the property could someday be the site of a company that chooses Michigan to be home.

"So what we're doing here today is filling a gap. We've done very well but we were missing something. We're filling in that missing element to make a stronger and better [Michigan] not just for the next few years but for a long time to come," Snyder said.

Lawmakers and proponents of the law says it makes Michigan more attractive and more competitive when it comes to attracting companies to our state.

"When you give someone the opportunity to have a good paying job, there can't be anything more rewarding or more satisfactory than that," Shorty Gleason with Michigan Build and Construction Trades  Council said.

The law offers incentives like allowing new companies to keep some or all of the state income tax paid by their employees, if certain criteria is met.

"This is about what our folks, when our economic development team in Rochester Hills travels the country and even the world that we have things we can put on the table. It is a highly competitive market place," Rochester HIlls Mayor Bryan Burnett said.

"One of the exciting things about this package. It says it has to be above-average pay jobs. It's not about getting lower-paying jobs, this is about higher-paying jobs. That's where I view it as a win. That's one of the reasons I was strongly supporting it," said Snyder.

The legislation was strongly supported by both sides of the aisle in Lansing.