The subsidized health care cooperative in Cape Girardeau that I recently discussed is back in the news. From an article at the Missouri Watchdog:

It turns out that the project is led by a man who is currently on probation after pleading guilty in 2007 to passing more than $90,000 in bad checks, according to court records obtained by The Associated Press, which reported the story Friday.

This is not an isolated case — Michigan has also had problems with issuing tax credits to convicted embezzlers, and Iowa has had particular difficulty with its film tax credit program, as I have discussed previously. A negative consequence of targeted tax credit programs is that they sometimes encourage crimes.

Perhaps this is an indication that the state is issuing targeted tax credits too quickly to keep track of them.

Because they are dealing with taxpayer monies, government officials in Missouri should take steps to ensure that the state’s resources are put toward their highest uses, and also that they are going toward their intended use.