Sal DiMasi seconds Governor Deval Patrick’s job estimates
Massachusetts Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi made an interesting claim this morning in a speech to Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. The speech was largely an attack on Governor Deval Patrick’s casino proposal and part of that attack was highlighting the Speaker’s more “sustainable” economic development proposals. Said the Speaker, according to a document published by Boston.com:
The House recently passed legislation that will invest $1 billion in the life sciences industry, a bill that will allow Massachusetts to retain its spot as the top super-cluster in the industry.
It will create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
DiMasi had previously declined to project a number of jobs that would be created by the life-sciences bill. I think the Governor and Speaker are wildly overestimating the number of jobs that the bill will help create.
(The Speaker also said something that mystifies me a bit, namely:
We helped Target build a huge distribution center in Westfield, with 1,000 jobs in Western Massachusetts.
I haven’t found any details about that project other than in AP story from a year ago:
The economic stimulus package passed last year is paying dividends, [DiMasi] said, and increasing the tax burden would hamper progress. For example, the state’s $2.1 million investment toward a new Target retail distribution center in Westfield eventually will lead to 1,000 new jobs, he said.
So, are there 1,000 people working at the distribution center, as Speaker DiMasi is implying, or not? Is $2.1 million the entire value of the state’s “investment” in the distribution center?
The distribution center isn’t listed on Target’s corporate web site.
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