State Rep. Sarah Lightner today issued the following statement after Ford confirmed it is pausing construction of its forthcoming Blue Oval plant in Marshall, a project receiving more than $1.7 billion in state incentives. The company said it is not confident in its ability to run the plant competitively:

“Gov. Whitmer threw $1.7 billion in taxpayer dollars at Ford to bring its new EV plant to Marshall, but even that wasn’t enough to make the company turn a blind eye toward the anti-business climate the Democrat majority has created. Their far-left policies put more red tape and higher costs on businesses. The extreme energy mandate they’re currently pushing will raise costs even further while leaving large manufacturers like Ford worried about blackouts affecting their bottom line. If this keeps up, Michigan workers will pay the price as industries suffer and opportunities vanish.

“Gov. Whitmer was insistent on paying a premium to land the Ford project. Now that it’s falling through, I hope she’s just as adamant about making sure any tax dollars already paid out are returned to the state. This situation is exactly why claw-back provisions and other safeguards were built into the process when the Legislature set up the SOAR fund in 2021. I will continue to monitor the situation closely and seek answers about the status of state funding allocated to the Marshall Area Economic Development Alliance for site prep.”

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