Michigan State Legislators Reject Tax Benefits to Ford’s New Battery Plant
MARSHALL, Mich.—Michigan House Freedom Caucus held a press conference on Saturday to object to using taxpayer dollars to fund the new Ford electric vehicle battery plant.
Two days ago, stateappropriated $630 Million Ford has partnered with an EV battery manufacturer in China with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
Michigan State Rep. Steve Carra, R-Three Rivers, caucus chairman, stated that the appropriation did not follow the Michigan Constitution which requires a two thirds majority to fund private purposes. The state House approved the spending bill with 56 votes to 53.
Carra claimed that the Democrat majority had abused the Constitution by calling this project a public goal. “even though it’s giving tax dollars from the hardworking middle class to a private company.”
“It’s a redistribution of wealth from the hardworking middle class to the politically connected, and that’s a very big problem,” He added. The Epoch Times reached out to the Michigan Democratic Party for comment.
Carra has some friends in the state Senate. Before the state’s appropriation bill was passed by the upper house, Senator Jonathan Lindsay (R – Allen Township) had proposed an amendment. Amendment Asking for a national safety review. This review would ensure that no state funds were used for a project involving partners with the CCP military or forced labor.
At the press conference, he stated that all 20 Democrats voted no for the amendment and that all 18 Republican senators supported it.
“There’s no reason to move forward on a project like this if the people behind it can’t go along with a simple review to protect our national security,” Lindsay said.
In his Feb. 28 speech, he mentioned Virginia’s decision not to house the Ford plant because of national security concerns as one reason for his amendment.
Virginia Del. Virginia Del. “When we start to do partnerships that are directly tied to the Chinese Communist Party, that’s exactly the type of business that we don’t want in the Commonwealth. Bottom line,” She said.
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), a Chinese manufacturer of EV batteries, gained prominence through $155 Million in Chinese subsidies. The Chinese subsidies were granted between 2015 and 2017, when foreign suppliers had no access to China’s EV battery market.
Zeng Yuqun is the chairman of CATL and has been a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. This body provides political advice to the communist government. Zeng Yuqun’s membership in the committee was extended to 2028 this year.
Joan Chapman, an owner of property who hasn’t sold her land at the Ford-CATL plant to the local economic developer agency, stated that the story behind the new project was “a story of loss.”
“We’ve lost the feeling of security and home because we live there. We live there,” She said that the community was divided and that there were people who thought her family was a traitor. “conspiracy theorists” And “crazy.”
“I don’t think it’s a done deal,” Chapman spoke to 60 people in the room and referred to Ford-CATL. Another resident agreed. “It’s not a done deal, and we are not finished fighting it.”
Julie Bryant, who purchased a Marshall Township home three years back for its small-town appeal, announced that she would start a new group on Facebook. “Stop the China Ford mega site.” The group is yet to decide if they will resort to legal measures to stall Ford-CATL’s plant.
On February 16, eight Michigan State Representatives wrote to Governor. Gretchen Whitmer said: “We ask that you end your discussions with this company [Chinese battery maker], and we strongly object to using any taxpayer dollars to fund the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to expand its destructive influence in the United States.”
The eight legislators are Reps. David Martin (Jaime Greene), Andrew Fink, Mike Hoadley and Mike Bruck. Andrew Beeler, a House Freedom Caucus member, is Bob Bezotte.
Ford has been reached by The Epoch Times for comment.
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