FLINT, MI — Facing opposition to a proposal that would boost rebates for electronic vehicles made with union labor and batteries made in the United States, U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow said Wednesday, Sept. 15, that they don’t regret the special incentive approved by the House Ways and Means Committee.
“I’m not going to apologize for the fact that we think that labor union-supported workers should go to the front of the line,” Kildee, D-Flint Twp., said in a virtual news conference Wednesday afternoon. “They helped build the middle class. We want to keep it that way. If we invest in jobs that have good wages, good benefits, and good worker protections, that benefits everybody.”
The proposal will now be considered by the House Budget Committee, the full House of Representatives, and finally the Senate.
The Kildee plan would extend to five years the current $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit, with another $4,500 if a car is made by union workers, and $500 more if it is powered by a U.S.-made battery.
After five years, only cars assembled in the U.S. would be eligible for the tax credit.
The idea has been opposed by Republicans and by non-union car companies including Honda and Toyota. It has been endorsed by General Motors, Ford, the League of Conservation Voters and others.
In a statement to MLive-The Flint Journal Wednesday, Toyota said the proposal “runs counter to the goal of carbon reduction” and discriminates “against American automakers based on their choice not to unionize.”
Honda posted a message on its website earlier this week, saying the company is disappointed by the proposed tax incentives, which it says “discriminates among EVs made by hard-working American auto workers based simply on whether they belong to a union.”
Stabenow (D-MI), who is leading the push to pass the EV proposal in the Senate, also said tax credits are designed to benefit the environment, make electric vehicles more affordable, and support “good-paying jobs that … come through collective bargaining and unions.”
Earlier this month, Kildee joined county and state officials and climate advocates, calling for significant investments in electric vehicles in an event sponsored by Moms Clean Air Force & Black Millennials for Flint.
The congressman urged lawmakers to back President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill and his “Build Back Better Budget,” which he said would help expand the market for EVs and invest in the infrastructure needed to support them.
(Information from the Associated Press is included in this report.)
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