At the John Locke Foundation, we write a lot about things that the government shouldn’t do or money the government shouldn’t spend. And the response is often some version of, “But who else is going to do it?” And it’s a fair question. There are things like education and training that someone has to provide and pay for.
So I was excited today to see the headline, “Duke Energy awards nearly $1.4 million to jumpstart job readiness in North Carolina.” I clicked through and found a list of 26 different organizations from all across North Carolina who are receiving grants from the Duke Energy Foundation. The grants range from $10,000 to Bull City Forward to provide “workshops for entrepreneurs who lack resources and training” to $170,000 for to the East Carolina University Foundation “for Tools for Advanced Manufacturing for Veterans and Supporting STEM in Eastern North Carolina.”
The list is long and varied. The awards stretch across the state and will reach a wide variety of people. And Duke Energy doesn’t have to do any of this at all. They could just pocket the money. Instead, they’re investing in their community. I expect there are several reasons for this.
Of course there’s the good PR. People like me will write about the awards. I’m sure that factors into their thinking. But there’s also the fact that Duke Energy needs skilled workers. So they’re giving money to UNC-Charlotte for scholarships for students studying energy, electrical, and mechanical engineering. They’re giving money to support students involved in installing solar panels on Habitat homes. They’re supporting entrepreneurship development, and programs to help people reengage in education.
And I’m not so cynical as to think that part of this isn’t motivated by a belief that helping other people is the right thing to do, that supporting the communities in which we live is good for all of us and a worthy use of some of our corporate profits.
Duke Energy isn’t unique in doing this sort of work. There are corporate and private foundations that make grants like these all the time. And so my answer to “Who else is going to do it?” is this. Private individuals, charities, churches, and yes even big corporations will. Let them hang on to more of their own money (by taxing them less) and they’ll probably do even more of this sort of thing. And since it’s their own money they’re spending, they’ll probably do a pretty good job vetting the organizations to which they give, making sure they get the best bang for their buck.
Sounds better than taxpayer-funded-via-government-bureaucracy to me.