First, an enterprise zone business owner can reasonably project that some portion of new hires will qualify if the business employs people from the local population. In the macro sense, this is an obvious benefit – it is a powerful incentive for businesses to remain or to expand within an enterprise zone. Opponents to the enterprise zone program who cite this failure of the “but for” principle in zone hiring decisions need to expand their perspective. It’s very simple common sense.

Second, although individual hiring decisions were not based on EZ hiring credit eligibility, subsequent decisions to retain a worker might be. Isn’t this equally important for the individual worker?