Guest Izzy Lyman and Zee cover all the moving parts to the Michigan sponsored manufacturing incentives, which is the largest tax expenditure in Michigan history. It is a dizzying array of payouts.
Summary of Michigan Expenditures for Green Manufacturing
Michigan lawmakers fast-tracked legislation at the end of 2021 to pour $1 billion into a fund that would attract big business investments. The Strategic Outreach Attraction Reserve, or SOAR, has since ballooned into a total $2 billion as state lawmakers have green lit three additional deposits into the fund.
Timeline Highlights Funding:
- Dec. 20, 2021 – $1 billion
- Sept. 28, 2022 – $846.1 million
- Jan. 31, 2023 – $150 million
- March 8, 2023 – $170.3 million
Timeline Highlights Spending:
- March 9, 2022 – $666.1 million to GM
- July 21, 2022 – $100.8 million to Ford
- April 13, 2023 – $200 million
- April 13, 2023 – $210 million to Ford
- April 20, 2023 – $175 million to Gotion
- June 28, 2023 – $250 million
Michigan Budget For 2024
$80.1 Billion dollars, a record for the state.
Democrats leading the Michigan House pushed through this week an $80.1 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget, topping Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s $79 billion proposal put forward in February.
The House plan includes a $21.5 billion School Aid budget, which Democrats called “the largest investment in education in Michigan’s history,” as well as significant investments in workforce recruitment and retention, infrastructure, and public safety. In addition, $400 million would go toward local road repairs throughout the state.
Michigan House passes $80.1B budget for 2024 fiscal year
Funds Are Not Distributed Directly by Legislature
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) will issue the money to these projects. MEDC employees 360 people to attract business to Michigan. We published two articles covering MEDC activity:
Hiding in Plain Sight
FOIA For Thee, Not For Me
Bill have been introduced to bring transparency.
Swedish Company Receives $200 Million for Saw Mill
The roughly $200 million in state tax dollars earmarked for the Escanaba Mill will supplement a $1.06 billion investment by Swedish parent company Billerud to expand paper product production at the mill. The project would help the mill retain nearly 1,200 jobs at the 2,000-acre site in Wells and Escanaba townships in Delta County.
Ford Corporate Welfare and Marshall Michigan
Ford is receiving $9.2Billion in subsidies for EV manufacturing development.
Michigan is also funding these efforts.
As The Detroit News reports, “Ford’s total incentives for the $3.5 billion project amount to about $1.6 billion in state and local taxpayer aid once local and state tax incentives are taken into consideration.”
CATL, a CCP Company, Will be Ford’s Partner
“The plant is going to be fully owned by a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, so this will be an American investment made in Michigan,” Christ Smith, Chief Government Operations Officer for Ford Motor Company said, “There aren’t going to be any foreign partners, our relationship with CATL will be as a technical service provider.
Despite all the funding 3,000 jobs at Ford were lost, with a projected 1,000 more.
Gotion, A CCP Company, Is The Savior Of The State
Gotion will operate under it’s CCP Bylaws.
Here is the charter from the CCP site. Note the domain name .com.cn. https://en.gotion.com.cn/uploads/file/20220728/1658971015278139.pdf
State funding for a controversial $2.3 billion electric vehicle battery factory near Big Rapids narrowly passed its last hurdle on Thursday, with the Senate Appropriations Committee approving the transfer of $175 million to support Gotion Inc.
“Gotion has not disclosed the materials it submitted to CFIUS and has not released the NDAs it forced Michigan officials to sign,” he said in a statement, “While it insists on secrecy, one document everyone has seen is Gotion High Tech’s articles of association where it pledges allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party and says it will carry out party activities. Today’s announcement from Gotion is not an approval from CFIUS, but another example of the broken CFIUS process where the government claims deals are outside its jurisdiction.”
NDA exists that prevents details from being made public
Two Books That Izzy Recommends To Learn About the Grift of Green Technology
