[{"_1":2,"_100":-5,"_101":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6055889,"mediaKeyId","3313599-312958a5acf38739e656ed299fbd91f9","parentId",3313599,"title","Economic‑accountability advocate tells committee subsidies like SOAR can produce poor returns and political incentives","audioSeconds",512,"startMs",3554000,"endMs",4066000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3313599-312958a5acf38739e656ed299fbd91f9&start=3554&end=4066","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3313599-312958a5acf38739e656ed299fbd91f9/thumbnail_3554000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6055889/Michigan/Economicaccountability-advocate-tells-committee-subsidies-like-SOAR-can-produce-poor-returns-and-political-incentives","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6055889-91b1f1260bf0207a738582eabb76040f/orig.mp4?Expires=1771023072&Signature=HmTQ6o3Q-wIiyFQWZAGeqk0BAnYZCN4Rshc2IwoNvhHV6QsuwfIoNHZAl50ZnaS8RK-ITMGk7YTRGek9tgmuKUMKeVBymwMGGkIF5Vm0fjhVSCmWqKSdYRetxcBB3c37Mr47bew7syDgWWiWTVbka5OpiMgSLIf8~IHhl5eiWGSkNmkRnfdbR5SLZG6rzp0nADJ1tWhUFJ3H2HWtXah7-r5q0JMZ0dq-kuvY8eo0uGY5Zvm25a8PFEQYmDlYkJkavrFlmnXqBuvF7-3tlTF7r2kDHpNcwtGL-tA0OjBsr9sSSyaKqdAWUYw5oW31YkNHQLJOoNbGZXbNv1OMuAl0rQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Michigan House of Representatives","date","2025-05-14T00:00:00Z","article","John Mazzino, president of the Center for Economic Accountability, told the House Oversight Subcommittee that state subsidy programs such as SOAR often produce poor returns and political distortions, and that published estimates overstate subsidy benefits while understating costs to taxpayers.

“We have example after example after example of that mechanism going across the country where big subsidies failed to land the deal,” Mazzino said, arguing that incentives are usually one of many factors in a company’s site decision and rarely the decisive one. He told the committee that site‑selection surveys put state and local incentives around eighth to 12th in importance compared with workforce, energy, permitting and proximity to suppliers.

Mazzino criticized the way ROI is calculated for projects and said the MEDC’s own numbers imply a poor deal for Goshen. “That's $715,000,000 by the MEDC's own math works out a bit more than $300,000 for each of the promised jobs,” he said, adding that the commonly used models do not account for substitution effects — hiring that simply shifts workers from one local employer to another — or the unseen economic losses when taxpayers’ dollars are removed from other uses.

Mazzino also highlighted past controversies, including Foxconn in Wisconsin and other high‑profile subsidy efforts, and said subsidies can produce concentrated political benefits for officials and bureaucrats who administer them. He urged greater transparency for public funds given to private firms and suggested expanding public access to the information lenders or investors would typically receive.

In response to committee questions, Mazzino said local business owners often object not only because a new employer might hire away trained workers, but because the hires are facilitated with taxpayer dollars. He described the effect as “job shuffling” rather than net job creation in many markets. The witness did not call for the immediate rescission of approved funds in this hearing, but urged the committee to scrutinize program rules, disclosure exemptions and the metrics used to justify large incentive packages.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Oversight - Corporate Subsidies and State Investments | Wednesday, May 14, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","John Mazzino of the Center for Economic Accountability criticized large state subsidies, argued such incentives often rank low in corporate site‑selection decisions, and said the Goshen package would equate to about $300,000 per promised job by the MEDC estimate.","taxTitle","Oversight - Corporate Subsidies and State Investments, Ethics and Oversight, House of Representative, Committees\t\t\t\t\t, Legislative, Michigan","taxId",80155,"location","Michigan","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6055893,"Former ambassador warns committee that China‑linked investments like Goshen pose national‑security risks",1904,1676000,3580000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3313599-312958a5acf38739e656ed299fbd91f9&start=1676&end=3580","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3313599-312958a5acf38739e656ed299fbd91f9/thumbnail_1676000.jpg","/articles/6055893/Michigan/Former-ambassador-warns-committee-that-Chinalinked-investments-like-Goshen-pose-nationalsecurity-risks","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6055893-60d9f56e359bd8cb24c83101306f1154/orig.mp4?Expires=1771023072&Signature=nStQ787HcriEq2zeYGE9hwmjGH-a1EBjZcF1IOEtFS-900hJBu4cMcPJVzAnGlJI~vjaZn0DwwIobj1SYzBHnlcO-p-hRv2eAeHVAaXPnyhoVsAPrjbn8fj5NNy99cYNrJDBDj-8VJbnlPpT1BsmzJ8l8iNLjA1H9BS3adx9ppWaryQXRrl21Yh94oUGEFwbSnrZaZH0sEgGUAzPWXq4N9T3r48AmznFFLFKMr3KR4GyGnW9jIVl2m5yY9lUSm012UvM-fTYom0PSaZpq7JnXSIodITrefpPVQAITxpv1S1yxQy3odoJmwkyIo9zGiQim4LoAIK2X02STBki4LjcaQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Joseph Sella, a former U.S. ambassador to five Pacific island nations and co‑founder of the Michigan China Economic and Security Review Group, testified the committee should apply strict scrutiny to China‑linked investments and cited past criminal cases and intelligence warnings as rationale.

“I am gravely concerned with the aggressive pursuit by certain elected officials and appointed leaders … to bring China based and CCP tied Goshen to our beloved state of Michigan,” Sella said. He told the subcommittee that U.S. intelligence agencies had briefed state and local officials in early 2022 and that the declassified memo from that briefing directed stricter due diligence on such deals.

Sella described legal and practical mechanisms of concern, including provisions of China’s National Intelligence Law that he said require Chinese entities and employees to “surveil, collect and report.” He urged the subcommittee to use its oversight and subpoena powers to ask pointed questions and recommended fuller examination by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which he described as the federal mechanism for review of covered transactions.

Sella cited multiple examples to illustrate his point: prosecutions tied to alleged trade‑secret theft involving U.S. engineering and materials firms, an FBI advisory that China has targeted research and university programs, and recent cases in which individuals were arrested on espionage charges. He said such incidents show the need to consider national‑security implications even where projects are promoted for job creation.

In questioning, Sella told the committee he had read Goshen’s parental company bylaws and that the parent company’s governance documents pledge loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party; he said those features heighten risk in certain technologies and locations. He also noted that a Biden administration rule expanding CFIUS coverage added military installations such as Camp Grayling to the list of sensitive sites and that this change could affect how transactions near such facilities are reviewed.

Sella did not propose rescinding existing approvals at this hearing; instead he urged the panel to press state and federal agencies for fuller disclosure and review. He told members that local citizen activists and federal counterintelligence officials had been central to raising concerns about the Goshen deal.","Joseph Sella, co‑founder of the Michigan China Economic and Security Review Group and a former U.S. ambassador, testified that deals with China‑based firms require strict scrutiny, cited espionage cases as examples and urged fuller CFIUS review.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6055898,"Subcommittee hears timeline for Goshen battery plant, $125 million SOAR allocation and local disputes",1381,275000,1656000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3313599-312958a5acf38739e656ed299fbd91f9&start=275&end=1656","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3313599-312958a5acf38739e656ed299fbd91f9/thumbnail_275000.jpg","/articles/6055898/Michigan/Subcommittee-hears-timeline-for-Goshen-battery-plant-125-million-SOAR-allocation-and-local-disputes","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6055898-1f7f4f4793d6511e3973304c6a749a4a/orig.mp4?Expires=1771023072&Signature=hRVDi6onIM~KyTaanRMOhp1j3C3fgJykpJAzAw96sht3OIqKMM~T5DHaPWbrOWzbmFlzTSb7rlJ0dJiuAeDNubj-SN4RBQ5WpxIpHIrFrw3SrMc51jSXcPbiHxzzYSVg5eu0OxsUhIhoOofsBHGciiSkImN~L~-BgHDZq1sY20qsj743ogZESf691NluSN0Nw2Z70mRWhh3SGhHI8L~e0k1saBsHQu3Zphd-XlxodfM5uBHl~61l9ndi72RyOr8AoAlh9YDpRbKpAu6PHmnEAgGTgvNPDKNANTTxBMbTkOSF0xPx1IJdN2lTnNKPMX4PIpqiHSHjr5-Ln-RiJaztqQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The House Oversight Subcommittee on Corporate Subsidies and State Investments heard a timeline of the Goshen EV battery project and details on state incentives, including a $125 million SOAR allocation that has not been disbursed and about $23.7 million from a strategic site‑readiness pool that has been allocated to site work.

Randy Thelen, chief executive officer of The Right Place, told the committee he and local partners began work on the opportunity in June 2021 after the company shifted from seeking a building to searching for infrastructure‑served industrial land. “There’s three buckets to the incentive program,” Thelen said, describing (1) the direct SOAR award for the company, (2) a Strategic Site Readiness Program grant for land assembly and infrastructure, and (3) a Renaissance Zone property‑tax abatement that has not produced tax value because the company has not begun investment.

Thelen summarized the local approvals and subsequent dispute: site control and due diligence advanced through 2022; in September 2022 Big Rapids Charter Township, Green Charter Township and the Mecosta County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously in support of the incentives; the Michigan Strategic Fund later approved the package; and state appropriations committees gave later approvals. In fall 2023, a recall election changed much of the Green Charter Township board, the township took steps that Thelen said “violated a development agreement,” and the company subsequently sued. Thelen said permitting and other on‑the‑ground activity are effectively awaiting resolution of the court process.

Committee members asked Thelen how funds actually flow. Thelen said the $125 million SOAR award is an allocation to the project but “The Right Place does not have an agreement in place on those funds. … I know generally $0 have been transferred of those $125 to date. The company has milestones that must be achieved. They haven't hit those yet, therefore the money has not been dispersed.” He said about $23.7 million (rounded) of the $50 million Strategic Site Readiness appropriation had been allocated for site development.

Thelen also described public engagement on the project. He said early public meetings in late 2022 produced limited attendance and that community concern at first focused on environmental and infrastructure topics; China‑related questions increased in prominence in March 2023. He told the committee that turnout rose from “6 people” at one February 2023 meeting to about 150 at later meetings, and cited the recall vote results as roughly a 55/45 split in the community. Thelen said his door‑to‑door conversations with constituents produced 30 “no” and 6 “yes” responses among 36 people he and two state representatives spoke with.

No committee action or vote on the incentives occurred at the hearing. The subcommittee approved routine minutes at the start of the meeting; Representative Green moved to approve the May 7 minutes and the chair said, “Hearing no objection, they are approved.”

Thelen urged the committee to weigh the timeline and local dynamics as the courts and the parties resolve outstanding disputes. For now, Thelen said, state disbursements tied to company milestones remain on hold and permitting appears contingent on litigation and any required federal or state reviews.","Witnesses described the Goshen EV battery project timeline, state incentives tied to it and escalating local opposition that led to recalls and litigation; state site‑prep funds have been partially allocated but direct SOAR disbursements have not been triggered.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Economic‑accountability advocate tells committee subsidies like SOAR can produce poor returns and political incentives

Former ambassador warns committee that China‑linked investments like Goshen pose national‑security risks

Subcommittee hears timeline for Goshen battery plant, $125 million SOAR allocation and local disputes