Michigan International Speedway is now a two-time winner when it comes to state subsidies.

The state’s official tourism site announced it was hosting the Pure Michigan NASCAR Sprint Cup Race at MIS on Aug. 21. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation paid $972,500 for the one-year sponsorship deal. And MIS already qualifies for tax credits through the Michigan business tax since 2007. The state reimburses the racetrack for every dollar it spends on infrastructure improvements on areas such as the infield or the grandstand area. The state estimates this will be $1.2 million for 2011.

“They are spending money on something that they are already spending money on,” said James Hohman, assistant director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. “I don’t think the state should have an MIS-specific policy. The state should not be taking money from everyone else to give to a politically favored business.”

MEDC spokeswoman Michelle Begnoche said in an email that the funding came from “corporate funding” and that no state funding was used in the sponsorship. She said the $972,500 came from the MEDC’s investment income and money that the Indian gaming casinos gave the MEDC as part of a deal for the privileged gaming status that state government confers upon them.

Michael LaFaive, director of fiscal policy for the Mackinac Center, said the MEDC was “splitting hairs.”

He pointed to a Senate Fiscal Agency 2009 report on tribal gaming issues. That report notes that the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that the tribal gaming contributions were “public funds not subject to appropriation.”

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See also:

State Taxpayers May Eat $1.6 Million Loan for Defunct Green Bus Company

State Loans Often Losers

Filmmaker Tax Subsidy Also Pays for Out-of-State Spending

Pure Spending — GOP Finds More for Tourism Subsidies

Analysis: Follow the Money - No Wonder Corporate Welfare Bosses So Defensive

Bad News About State Jobs Program "Not Heard" by Granholm

Michigan offers tax incentives worth five times the competition's

Why Do Michigan’s Failed Economic Programs Stick Around?

Flint, a city where more than half the children live below the poverty level, lost out on a pair of $1.1 million electric buses that the federal stimulus program would have paid for when the “green technology” company making them went out of business. So now, the head of the Flint bus authority says they are trying to get a new hydrogen-powered bus that comes with a $2.5 million sticker price, more than eight times the cost of a traditional diesel bus.

Ed Benning, general manager of Flint’s Mass Transportation Authority, said in an email that MTA has been discussing purchasing as many as two hydrogen buses from UTC Energy in Connecticut. He said they hoped the $2.2 million stimulus grants could still be used.

Benning also said that MTA has a design-build contract for an alternative fuel facilty that will be built over the next 12 months and that the fueling facility would produce hydrogen for two vehicles and also provide fueling for compressed natural gas and propane vehicles.

“We have not ruled out electric as a possibility, but the weight of the vehicles and recharging requirements are a concern at this point,” Benning said.

He said MTA hasn’t had a bid put in for the hydrogen bus as of yet and that they could purchase a used hydrogen bus for as much as $1 million. A typical diesel bus costs about $300,000.

In September 2009, then-Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm trumpeted the state receiving $2.2 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to be spent on the “green” Flint buses as part of a new “energy economy for Michigan” that would create jobs.

Officials of Flint’s Mass Transportation Authority have said in the past that they hoped to have the two electric buses up and running as early as April 2009.

But Fisher Coachworks of Troy — the maker of the ‘green’ buses — went out of business, according to the Flint MTA and state of Michigan officials. The state will also have to write off a $1.6 million loan it gave Fisher Coachworks.

“I’m picking up the pieces and putting them back together,” said Benning, who was named general manager on May 26.