South Michigan News

State Representative Sarah Lightner has reiterated her demand for Michigan to retract taxpayer subsidies awarded to Ford's BlueOval electric vehicle battery plant in Marshall. This follows recent developments involving the federal government's decision to blacklist CATL, a Chinese battery manufacturer collaborating with Ford on the project.

The U.S. Department of Defense added CATL to its 1260H list on Tuesday. This list identifies companies operating in the United States that contribute to China's military buildup or work on behalf of its military. Companies included are prohibited from entering into Defense Department contracts, serving as a cautionary measure for American businesses about potential risks associated with such partnerships.

"These latest developments underscore what I’ve been saying all along — projects like this require much stricter oversight," said Lightner, R-Springport. "We must have safeguards in place to protect taxpayers from financial risks and national security threats. If a project is tanking, or it turns out to have ties to a questionable company, we need the ability to claw back those funds and redirect them to better uses."

Lightner has consistently expressed concerns over the transparency and safeguards related to the state's management of economic development incentives.

After Ford temporarily paused the BlueOval project before deciding on a scaled-down facility, Lightner introduced measures aimed at ensuring greater accountability for projects funded through the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) fund, which supported the Marshall plant.

Among her efforts are:

- A $725.3 million negative supplemental appropriations plan intended to return previously allocated SOAR funds and related infrastructure funding for the Marshall project back to the state’s general fund.

- Legislation requiring annual audits of the SOAR fund.

- Proposals establishing automatic claw-back provisions mandating unspent funds be returned if a project is canceled or indefinitely paused.

Lightner emphasized that CATL's blacklisting by the Department of Defense necessitates renewed efforts to terminate state involvement in the BlueOval project.

"This new federal action against CATL validates the concerns many of us have been raising for months," Lightner stated. "Michigan cannot afford to gamble with taxpayer money on a project linked to a company flagged for ties to the Chinese military. It’s time to claw back these funds and protect our economic and national security."