LANSING, MI (AP)-- Michigan's top economic development official is defending his agency after an audit flagged it for not verifying job-creation data submitted by companies getting grants and loans.
Michael Finney told lawmakers Wednesday that media coverage of the recent audit was misleading. The head of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. says too much attention was paid to an instance where companies getting grants under one program met 19 percent of employment projections instead of the 75 percent figure reported to legislators.
Finney says he and Gov. Rick Snyder had already decided some "lower-performing" 21st Century Jobs Fund programs should go away. He says they were created under a previous administration and things have changed.
Democrats say the audit primarily covers Republican Snyder's time in office, and problems identified previously haven't been fixed.
