Rep. Angela Rigas today issued a statement today criticizing the rapidly deteriorating relationship between the State of Michigan and one of its primary economic engines: the automotive industry.

Earlier this year Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Ford Motor Company jointly announced a plan to invest over $3.5 billion into South Central Michigan. As part of the deal, Whitmer and Democratic lawmakers agreed to provide a combined $1.7 billion in public subsidies towards the project.

However, this week a Ford spokesman told the Detroit Free Press that the company will immediately be “pausing work and limiting spending on construction on the Marshall site,” citing a loss of confidence in their ability to “competitively operate the plant.”

“The eyes of the nation are on Michigan right now and unfortunately what they’re seeing is a dumpster fire,” Rigas said. “This is Gretchenomics in action. They are all now seeing that these companies and job providers don’t see us as a competitively viable place to set up shop long term. Instead, we have a Democrat-trifecta government that refuses to stop raising their taxes and stacking on regulations. Right now, this isn’t an economy that works. It’s not working for businesses, and it’s not working for workers. If the Marshall plant folds, we may lose the ability to recoup the investments already placed into the project, and we will never see a dime of return for that nearly $2 billion tax break. It’s a recipe for economic disaster, and it’s a recipe handwritten by Gretchen Whitmer.”

A cornerstone of Whitmer’s tenure as governor is supposedly her revitalization of the auto industry by establishing stronger in-state manufacturing hubs. But these brewing tensions with Ford and a massive auto worker strike are now calling her ability to deliver on that promise into question.

“Governor Whitmer can take her little trips to Japan and pretend all day long that she’s bringing jobs to Michigan,” Rigas said. “But the reality we’re staring at right now says something very different. People don’t want to operate businesses here because she is making it too expensive and too restrictive – simple as that. We have to start making actual policies and not campaign speeches with our time here in Lansing or this economy is going to sink very far very fast.”

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