Washington, DC - A study released today finds that a rapidly-growing number of U.S. jurisdictions - at least 46 - now apply job quality standards to companies that receive economic development incentives.

The standards, mostly enacted within the last five years, range from wage and health insurance requirements to full-time hours rules. They were found in 26 cities, 16 states and four counties. They span almost every kind of incentive, from property tax abatements and training grants to enterprise zones and industrial development bonds.

The survey, entitled "The Policy Shift to Good Jobs," was released by Good Jobs First, a project of the Washington, DC-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a leading non-profit research center on tax and economic policy.

"I am amazed at the breadth of this trend," said Good Jobs First Director Greg LeRoy. "It strongly suggests a trend back to basics: economic development starts with raising people's living standards. Next, we need to be sure that the standards are enforced and evaluated for effectiveness."

Collectively, the standards represent a major policy shift in state and local economic development, with public officials increasingly requiring job-quality quid pro quos in exchange for subsidies. Compared to "living wage" ordinances (of which there are now 40), the study finds that wage standards applied to development subsidies are more likely to be pegged to labor-market rates, and are therefore higher and more varied as a group. They also cover more workers. More than half the jurisdictions apply a standard to more than one incentive program or to total development assistance above a fixed-dollar threshold, beginning between $5,000 and $100,000.

The survey found three general types of wage standards: those based on a multiple of federal subsistence measures such as the minimum wage or family-poverty line; those set at fixed dollar amounts; and those based on local market wages. Generally, those wages pegged to the poverty line are lower and those tied to the market are higher.

Half of the jurisdictions either require or encourage subsidized employers to provide healthcare. Some provide for lower wage standards when health care is provided.

The following jurisdictions apply job quality standards to one or more economic development incentive program ("†" indicates that the standard is part of a living wage law covering both contractors and incentives, "‡" indicates a living wage law covering incentives only):

Cities Auburn & Lewiston, Maine Cambridge, Massachusetts † Columbus, Ohio Dallas, Texas Des Moines, Iowa ‡ Detroit, Michigan † Duluth, Minnesota ‡ Fort Worth, Texas Gary, Indiana Hartford, Connecticut † Houston, Texas Indianapolis, Indiana Los Angeles, California † Madison, Wisconsin † Memphis, Tennessee Minneapolis, Minnesota ‡ Mission, Texas Oakland, California † St. Paul, Minnesota ‡ San Antonio, Texas ‡ San Diego, California West Hollywood, California † Winston-Salem, North Carolina Ypsilanti, Michigan † Ypsilanti Township, Michigan †

Counties Dane County, Wisconsin † Indian River County, Florida Santa Clara County, California‡ Shelby County, Tennessee States Arizona Colorado Florida Iowa Kansas Louisiana Maine Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri New Jersey North Carolina Oklahoma Texas Washington

"These standards indicate new thinking among development policymakers," concluded LeRoy. "In return for job subsidies, more public officials are demanding poverty-free wages. That means fewer subsidized jobs will generate hidden taxpayer costs such as Medicaid or food stamps." LeRoy is author of the 1994 book No More Candy Store: States and Cities Making Job Subsidies Accountable.

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