A state Senate committee has approved a proposal to give $175-million in incentives to Gotion Incorporated to build an electric vehicle battery parts plant near Big Rapids. The vote was 10-9. Among those supporting the project was Jerrilynn Strong, the chair of the Mecosta County Board of Commissioners.
“The direct economic boost will stretch from Grand Rapids to Cadillac…It will create 2,350 good jobs, better wages, and great benefits that will give our families a chance for nicer living in general, not only now, but for generations to follow.”
Gotion is planning to spend $2.4-billion for the factory. Opponents say the company’s ties to China could be a national security threat. Some people also testified that the plant doesn’t fit in the rural area and voiced concern about pollution. Three Democrats joined all six Republicans on the committee in voting no.
State Senator Jonathan Lindsey issued the following statement on the Gotion decision:
“To say I am disappointed doesn’t truly depict the feeling I have for the Senate Appropriations Committee’s vote this afternoon. The Democratic majority continues to push Michigan backward and does so without any regard for the future of this state.
“Again and again, residents, lawmakers, former federal intelligence officials, among others, voiced their concerns with this proposal and the lack of transparent answers from Gotion officials. National security concerns were scoffed at and questions about the environmental impact went unanswered, while the answers the company did provide were often misleading and left out crucial information. Gotion Inc. and its representatives offered little to establish trust in the Big Rapids community and the state as a whole.
“This is not the recipe for a successful relationship and the company’s lack of transparency certainly doesn’t justify hundreds of millions in tax dollar investment.
“Our national relations with China continue to deteriorate, and the Chinese government has become more and more hostile to American companies and the American government. Despite this, and despite uncertainty about the future relationship between the two nations, Senate Democrats voted to send a Chinese Community Party-affiliated company hundreds of millions of dollars that could be invested elsewhere like our power grid, our infrastructure or American companies doing the same work that Gotion is doing.
“Senate Democrats are choosing foreign investment over American companies, which sends the message that our country isn’t worth investing in, all while ignoring a sea of red flags as they once again rush through a proposal that affects every single resident of this state.
“I have opposed this corporate giveaway on the basis of national security, lack of environmental oversight, and fiscal responsibility. The Democrats did not allow me an opportunity to vote on this measure, but my opposition has been constant from the beginning.”
State Senator Aric Nesbitt issued the following statement:
“Once again the new Democratic majority is putting big corporations over struggling families by squandering our state’s historic budget surplus on bad business deals. These tax dollars should be going back into the pockets of the hardworking Michigan taxpayers who need economic relief, not to global corporations in secret back-room crony business deals.
“This appropriation is one more giant step in moving Michigan back to the Lost Decade of failed economic policies, high unemployment, declining household incomes and annual budget problems. These kinds of ill-advised economic incentive deals have failed time and time again. At a time when our state is struggling with one of the slowest economic recoveries in the nation, the people of Michigan cannot afford to repeat history.”
