Maryland lawmakers offer Amazon $8.5 billion to locate headquarters near CIA and Pentagon
By
Adam Soroka
19 April 2018
Earlier this month the Maryland House of Representatives passed a tax incentives package of $8.5 billion in an effort to win location rights for internet commerce giant Amazon’s second corporate headquarters, nicknamed “HQ2.” The incentives package could become the largest incentive package the state government has ever offered a corporation in Maryland history.
Until the recent 79-59 vote in the state legislature approving the deal, the largest known offer was New Jersey’s at $7 billion. Columbus, Ohio; Philadelphia and Chicago have offered between $2-3 billion each. The massive tax giveaway is meant to lure Amazon into locating its second headquarters in Montgomery County, which borders Washington, DC and northern Virginia. Like Montgomery County, DC and northern Virginia are on Amazon’s top 20 sites for HQ2. However, only Maryland has made their offer public.
Montgomery County’s close proximity to the US capital and its vast military-intelligence apparatus is a key factor in Amazon’s decision to consider the location. If Amazon selects the area as its HQ2, it will be a sign the company is deepening its ties with the CIA, NSA, FBI and other intel agencies, all of which are located in the region.
Plans are being drawn up to interrupt virtually every aspect of social and economic life in Montgomery County to prepare for Amazon’s potential arrival. Montgomery County Council President Hans Riemer said of the preparations, “It would be real, and we would have to get down to business to figure out exactly what transportation projects and what school projects and parks and everything that comes with building a new urban center in the…