SHREVEPORT - The Louisiana Quality of Life Campaign, sponsored by Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN), awarded its Corporate Hog at the Trough Award for September on Thursday to Pennzoil-Quaker State, located in Caddo Parish (Shreveport).

The Corporate Hog at the Trough Award is awarded monthly to big businesses that take the most in corporate welfare dollars and give back the least to their communities. Pennzoil took $60,370,014 in corporate welfare through the ten-year industrial tax exemption, created only 186 permanent jobs and avoided an estimated $21,733,205 in local school taxes. Louisiana is the only state in the nation that exempts big business manufacturers from local school taxes. The state paid Pennzoil-Quaker State $324,569 per job. LEAN members delivered the Corporate Hog at the Trough Award – a soft stuffed animal pig stuck in a metal trough filled with corn cobs covered with play money – to Pennzoil headquarters on Thursday.

“Creating 186 permanent jobs over 10 years – less than 19 jobs a year - for $60 million isn’t a great deal for the state,” LEAN executive director Marylee Orr said. “Governor Foster has said he wants to run the state like a business. But I can't think of a CEO who would stay employed spending so much money on a poor performing venture with such a low rate of return . Remember, the manufacturing big businesses get the corporate welfare whether they create 1 job or 1,000. And the 186 permanent jobs Pennzoil said it created is its own estimate. No state agency checks to see if the jobs were ever actually created.”

Orr said the irony is that a program designed to help the economy prosper has actually damaged it. Small businesses, which create 60 percent of all new jobs, pay property taxes that are used for roads, schools, fire and police protection and water and sewerage. In contrast big industry, which creates only 10 percent of all new jobs, pays very little property tax due to exemptions. This means small businesses
pay more tax than they should, because big business does not pay its fair share. When businesses do consider locating in Louisiana and discover the condition of our roads, schools, infrastructure and public services, it’s no wonder they choose not to locate here.

“If giving away tax dollars to business is such a good idea and so wonderful for the economy, why do we do it for only the three percent of all the companies that create only ten percent of the new jobs?” Orr asked. “Why don’t we do it for all businesses – especially small business owners? Small business owners have to pay their taxes even though they create 60 percent of all new jobs."

In addition to taking corporate welfare, Pennzoil adds its share of pollution to the Caddo Parish environment. In 1997 Pennzoil had total releases of 866,635 pounds of pollutants and total wastes of 3,005,985 pounds. In 1996 Pennzoil had total releases of 765,462 pounds and total wastes of 3,177,090 pounds.

There’s no doubt that pollution has an impact on the state’s economy. Air pollution, Orr said, is responsible for 500 deaths annually in Louisiana and the health-related economic costs due to air pollution range between $2 billion and $7 billion each year. As a result, each citizen of Louisiana pays $1,000 in health care costs due to air pollution. Obviously, the death and illnesses rob the economy of jobs and takes away income from households.

In 1998, these big businesses were given $300 million in taxpayers’ dollars but created only 6,250 jobs. That means the state paid $48,000 a job. Between 1982 and 1995, the state paid big business $4 billion in tax breaks and 26,000 jobs were lost. Taxpayers paid $154,000 for each job lost.

Last month’s Corporate Hog at the Trough Award was given to CITGO, located in Calcasieu Parish.