LANSING, Mich. (April 20, 2023) – Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) issued the following statement on the committee’s approval of Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) funding for the Gotion battery production facility in Mecosta County.
“My fellow Appropriations Committee members take our responsibility to make the state’s fiscal decisions very seriously. We are also charged with the responsibility of separating fact from fiction and policy from politics. In addition to the state budget work that is progressing, this also includes approving legislative transfers like the one we passed today for the Gotion project to build a new battery manufacturing plant in Mecosta County.
“After consultation with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and voluntary actions by Gotion, we have been assured that there are safeguards in place to address the concerns that have been raised. After review and ongoing discussions of this proposal, the Committee voted to approve the transfer. My support today was ultimately about the transformative impact of this project: around 2,350 new, Michigan jobs, which will average $52,000 per year, more than double the per-capita income, in one of the poorest counties in the state.
“My Senate Democratic colleagues and I will be continuing to work on new, holistic approaches to business attraction that merge economic and community development, business and worker support, and fiscal incentives with policy advancements to create a better future for all Michiganders. I look forward to building out the state budget in the coming months to address the various needs of residents and communities around the state.”
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