Welcome to Big Gretch's Michifornia!
The awful legislation emanating out of Lansing just keeps getting worse and worse.
The Michigan House and the Michigan Senate just approved $1.3 billion in new spending. Nearly half of the money - $630M - will be earmarked to buy and prepare farmland for a Ford Electric Vehicle (EV) battery plant that will be based in the Marshall area (Calhoun County). Supporters of the corporate welfare giveaway, argue that the Ford project will create 2,500 new jobs with an average salary of $45,136. The plant is projected to open in 2026.
Equally as troubling is the fact that Ford will be partnering with a Chinese company - Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) - to "supply the technology desire and early versions of the batteries until the factory opens for operation."
While four House Republicans supported the deal, none were from the North. Two Republicans voted for the senate bill - Joe Bellino and John Damoose.
Sen. Damoose posted this statement via his Facebook page, "This type of investment benefits every single resident of the state through direct jobs, indirect jobs, and ever increasing level of economic prosperity. The number of new businesses that will be spawned - from suppliers to restaurants - will impact our resident Marshall through the Upper Peninsula."
A longer commentary, from ERG, on the troubling Ford subsidy is forthcoming.
Ford Media Center photo: Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, Ford President and CEO Jim Farley, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, UAW President Ray Curry, Ford Chair Bill Ford and Marshall, Mich. Mayor Jim Schwartz at Ford Ion Park in Romulus, Mich., on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023, when Ford Motor Company announced plans for a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery plant in Marshall, Mich.