By DAVID EGGERT – Associated Press
LANSING, Michigan (AP) – The Michigan Senate on Thursday swiftly approved bills that would increase job creation and incentives for businesses to expand amid efforts to land major unspecified projects in the auto industry while they Switching to more environmentally friendly technologies.
The 27-10 votes came a day after the House of Representatives passed identical laws. Final action will not be taken until next week due to legal requirements and because lawmakers have discussed how much money to invest in the newly proposed Fund for Strategic Outreach and Attractions.
Actions, endorsed by Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer as “a golden opportunity to expand our toolkit for economic development,” could give lawmakers more participation in deals. That’s because they would control when money is transferred from the account to new location readiness and critical industry funds, from which the state business development agency could pay out incentives to companies.
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The accelerated measures came less than three months after Dearborn-based automaker Ford announced it would build three electric vehicle battery factories and an auto assembly plant in Kentucky and Tennessee, and create an estimated 10,800 jobs.
Senator Curt VanderWall, a Republican from Ludington who sponsors one of the bills, said Detroit-based General Motors is planning some expansion.
The legislation “allows us to negotiate and make sure we take care of Michigan businesses … the ones we want to keep here and not leave our area,” he said. “Right now, it’s extremely important that we give Michigan the tools to compete for these jobs and companies.”
Ford’s announcement took lawmakers by surprise and “likely tipped the scales” to convince them to do something two years after a 2017 tax incentive program aimed at large-scale business expansions expired, VanderWall said.
“We’re actually going to have sites that are shovel-ready,” he said, so that companies “can be up and running in a lot faster than what we currently have.”
Seven out of 21 Republicans and three out of 16 Democrats voted against the bills in the GOP-led chamber, with one member missing. They said corporate subsidies would spend less on other government priorities.
“How is it morally fair to collect taxes on the thousands of corporations paying into the treasury only to pay the same money to larger corporations or even others that are actually a direct competitor to an existing corporation in our state?” Said Senator Tom Barrett, a Charlotte Republican.
Proponents say the legislation contains detailed criteria that the Michigan Strategic Fund’s board of directors must consider and document before approving a grant, loan, financing, or other support for site development and business investment. The legislature would be informed of proposed changes and actual changes to a written agreement.
The House and Senate budget committees would have to approve transfers from a major fund known as SOAR and overseen by the state Department of Labor and Economic Opportunities before the Michigan Strategic Site Readiness Fund and Critical Industry Fund could be tapped for business.
“This really gives lawmakers a credible voice in these processes so that we understand the macro, we have some information about some of the opportunities that are emerging for the state, and we can keep Michigan as the place where things are done,” said Rep Ben Frederick, an Owosso Republican.
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Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed in any way without permission.
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