Governor Brian Kemp made public remarks about electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian Automotive announcing plans to pause work on its $5 billion plant in Georgia in a Tuesday press event.
Kemp, whose support for the Rivian deal helped generate $1.5 billion in tax incentives for the company, called the situation “no doubt disappointing” in a press conference.
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The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources has been scrutinizing the intersection of electric vehicle mandates and supply chains to meet them, and how EV subsidies could empower China, which controls a lot of those supply chains.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., chair of the committee, said he doesn’t have any problem with electric vehicles.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposed $79 billion budget for fiscal year 2024 aims to require taxpayers subsidize electric vehicles and chargers with $318 million.
Whitmer’s mobility budget includes $160 million for capital investments in rail, bus, and marine transit service expansions, $65 million for EV charging stations, and $48 million over two years for an EV sales and use tax exemption.
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A new Tennessee film tax credit program will change the way that entertainment companies receive subsidies from the state, but it won’t reduce the amount that those companies receive.
In fact, it is expected to increase the incentives in a program that has paid out $88.6 million since the Visual Content Act of 2006 created the subsidies. An additional $6.5 million in subsidies had already been committed as of the most recently released report on the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission Production Grant Program at the end of 2021.
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In a highly orchestrated and publicized White House gathering this month, President Biden presented a detailed plan for the development of a U.S. fleet of clean, high-mileage electric automobiles that would reduce reliance on gasoline and generate thousands of good union jobs. It’s a new, government-encouraged, taxpayer-subsidized auto world. The plan calls for U.S. auto production to become 50% electric by 2030. Today, the electric share stands at a paltry 2%.
Top leaders from Ford, GM, and Stellantis (formerly Fiat-Chrysler), along with environmentalists and governors, were prominently invited to share in the announcement. Yet the absence of any non-union, America-located auto producers was glaring. There were no representatives from Hyundai, Nissan, or Toyota – companies that have long produced popular vehicles within our borders and recently expressed some support for Biden’s goal. Also striking was the absence of Tesla’s Elon Musk, the world’s acknowledged leader in the electric car and battery revolution. Tesla is an American firm, but it is not unionized.
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Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) joined U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) to co-sponsor legislation that indirectly funds local media. The Local Journalism Sustainability Act establishes tax credits that give consumers a huge deduction on media subscriptions, subsidizes journalists’ salaries, and funds news outlets by paying for businesses to advertise.
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President Biden has just unveiled a new $2.3 trillion “infrastructure” plan, but a shockingly large portion of this bill is actually unrelated to infrastructure.
The plan includes massive subsidies for corporations as well as state and local governments, and comes right after the administration’s proposed increase in the corporate tax rate, which would raise the rate from 21 percent to 28 percent.
There’s $300 billion for manufacturing, $100 billion for electric utilities, $100 billion for broadband, $174 billion for electric vehicles, and a whole lot more. A significant portion of this spending is directed at subsidizing big corporations.
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Volkswagen hired Bob Corker’s former chief of staff, Todd Womack, to do lobbying on trade matters, proving that working as a public servant can pay off. Womack made the announcement Friday on Twitter: “Excited to be working with @VW.” He is president and CEO of Bridge Public Affairs, a lobbying firm created by former Corker staffers including Womack, who has worked with Corker since he was mayor of Chattanooga. Excited to be working with @VW pic.twitter.com/jrSA0FFP6T — Todd Womack (@TWchatt) March 30, 2019 Terms of Womack’s’ deal are not known, but Volkswagen spent $1 million last year on lobbying, Politico said. Corker was a U.S. senator (R-TN) when Volkswagen selected Chattanooga in 2008 for its assembly plant, the Chattanoogan said. The plant received “attractive” state subsidies, the Chattanoogan said: Volkswagen of America received an attractive, comprehensive package of incentives for the new facility from Gov. Bredesen’s office and the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, it was stated. The statutory incentives are tied to job creation and capital investment. Additional support includes assistance for public infrastructure and job training, each designed to ensure the local economy best leverages Volkswagen’s investment to benefit the local work force and ensure the…
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The TV show “Nashville” may finally be ending, but taxpayers have been stuck with the tab for this and other “flops,” conservative think tank says in a new report. The Beacon Center of Tennessee released the “Calling Cut on Film Incentives” report Wednesday to decry the bad “investments” the state had made in spending tax dollars on shows, movies and commercials. “Nashville” is only one example highlighted in the report. The show, on the eve of its series finale, has been canceled twice in three years and cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars, the Beacon Center said. The current home is CMT, which picked it up after ABC dropped it. Beacon Center CEO Justin Owen said, “While we are against all forms of corporate welfare, film incentives have unquestionably proven to have the worst return on investment of any type of handout. Studies show that film incentives have a return on investment of anywhere from just seven cents per dollar to 28 cents per dollar, an investment that only the government would make. “It seems like Tennessee government officials were throwing darts blindly when they picked what productions to subsidize,” Owens said. “In fact, over 40% of the films that received…
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A $17.5 million tax incentive from the state of Tennessee to lure 1,000 jobs to Nashville–$17,500 per job—came at the expense of taxpayers to lure well-paid corporate executives when they already were drawn to the state’s other features like a favorable tax structure, experts say. The Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development announced in May that AllianceBernstein Holding LP would its corporate headquarters and about 1,050 jobs to Nashville from Manhattan. ‘On the backs of taxpayers’ When the announcement was made, Mark Cunningham of The Beacon Center of Tennessee called for the state to not offer incentives: “While the Beacon Center welcomes AllianceBernstein to Nashville with open arms, it should not be on the backs of Nashville and Tennessee taxpayers. The company is leaving high-tax New York City and coming to Nashville because of our extremely favorable tax structure that includes no state income tax and the phase-out of the Hall Income Tax on stocks and bonds. Their decision to already relocate here before any incentives are awarded proves that we can attract businesses with our economic climate, tax structure, and fiscal responsibility, and that we do not need to give them the tax dollars of hard-working Tennesseans on…
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by Rick Manning “No tariffs, no barriers, that’s the way it should be — and no subsidies,” President Donald Trump during a speech to G-7 leaders on June 8, 2018. Congress has a chance to move the ball forward on achieving this ideal as they consider the farm bill. Representative Ted Yoho (R-Fl) has legislation to end sugar subsidies immediately upon presidential certification that other nations have taken the same steps. The Zero for Zero bill would allow President Trump to confront other major sugar producing nations with a simple stark offer. We agreed to end our sugar subsidies, but it is contingent on you ending yours. This basic reciprocal tool would empower the president to seek fairer, freer trade and hopefully set a precedent for lowering or ending all agricultural subsidies. In my mind this is a great move forward. Rather than playing the stale stalemate game between those who abhor agriculture subsidies, particularly for sugar, the Yoho Zero for Zero language changes the debate because it puts the onus on foreign governments like Brazil and India to do the same allowing true free markets to set prices and even production volumes. It is time for the entire…
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With relentless attacks coming from oil refiners and powerful lawmakers on Capitol Hill, ethanol industry leaders this week are clinging to President Trump and casting him as their unwavering ally – even though key members of his administration are looking at regulatory changes that could hurt the biofuels sector.
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