Yesterday, it was announced that Governor Whitmer’s proposed budget for the 2023 fiscal year would include a $500 million allocation for the bipartisan created Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR), “a fund aimed at luring large development projects.”
Most recently, SOAR was critical in securing GM’s $7 billion dollar investment to make Michigan “the ‘hub’ of electric vehicle development and manufacturing” – a “big win” that represented GM’s “single largest investment announcement” in the company’s history.
Meanwhile, a number of Republicans running for governor have already signaled that they would reject any efforts to boost Michigan’s economy and attract good-paying jobs.
Showing up outside the GM announcement event where Governor Whitmer spoke and Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey praised the deal as a “historic” job-creator, Rinke voiced his disapproval of GM’s decision to invest in Michigan, claiming that it was somehow reflective of the state not having a “properly constructed business climate.”
Tudor Dixon was equally dismissive of the GM deal in her prebuttal to Governor Whitmer’s State of the State address, urging focus on “creating an environment that makes job creators actually want to invest in Michigan.”
Garrett Soldano referred to SOAR as “crony capitalism at its worst.”
As with every other issue that the entire slate has used to display that they are opposite Governor Whitmer – and at times, the same Republican legislative leaders they would have to work with if elected governor – Dixon, Rinke, and Soldano offered no alternative solutions for how they’d get Michganders back to work.
MDP spokesperson Rodericka Applewhaite issued the following statement:
“Once again, the entire crowded Republican gubernatorial field is spending more time saying what they would not do rather than making a plain case to Michigan working families how they plan to proactively keep them first. Meanwhile, Governor Whitmer is continuing to build a fertile environment for businesses from all industries to invest in this state, create good-paying jobs across Michigan, and keep our economy strong while getting Michiganders back to work.”
