ND House Votes To End Centerpiece Program Of Hoeven Economic Development Efforts

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Written By:
Rob Port

Feb 24, 2011
5:05pm

The Centers of Excellence program is a horrendous waste of taxpayer dollars started by former Governor, now Senator, John Hoeven. According to an analysis done by the North Dakota Policy Council in 2009, each job created by the program was costing the taxpayers some $42,000, and that’s presuming that the job creation numbers reported by participants in the program are accurate which seems unlikely. The metrics used to measure job creation are something less than transparent, and there is no auditing being done to ensure that what is being reported is accurate.

But even if we take what is being reported about the programs at face value, it’s clear that it is a bad deal for the taxpayers.

In the past, however, Governor Hoeven got his way with this pet project. His replacement, Governor Jack Dalrymple, sought funding in his budget to continue and expand the program but the North Dakota House said no today. HB1018 was the agency bill to fund the state’s Commerce Department. Before passing the bill, which essentially represents the agency’s budget, the House stripped out funding for the Centers of Excellence.

This is a real victory for limited government, and an indication that maybe some in the seats of power in our state government are starting to sour on government-managed economic development policies in general.

Policies that, for this observer, are far to similar to Obama’s economic strategies for comfort.