Advocacy News – Sept. 30, 2022
The Michigan Legislature was back in session the week of Sept. 26 to consider a multitude of bills as committees and both chambers met for the last time before the Nov. 8 election.
The bipartisan passage of a supplemental appropriations bill, Senate Bill 844, was a legislative highlight. The Michigan Chamber supported this legislation.
One key component of the bill was investing in the relatively new Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) Fund designed to attract and spur key economic development projects across the state. $875M was allocated to the fund, replenishing a previously used portion of it and adding some dollars too.
“The Michigan Chamber supports this meaningful investment in economic development for Michigan,” said Jim Holcomb, President and CEO of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. “The bipartisan work of the Legislature and Governor will enhance Michigan’s ability to compete for and retain jobs while simultaneously ensuring transparency, legislative oversight and efficiency. Michigan will be positioned to attract some of the largest projects in our state’s history, which will benefit businesses of all sizes across all industries in urban and rural areas and strengthen communities statewide.”
The SOAR Fund was created at the end of 2021, to help address the state’s talent pipeline crisis as well as help address concerns that Michigan was losing job creation opportunities and major projects to other states aggressively and proactively competing and offering incentives for businesses to develop and grow in their state. The SOAR fund includes dollars that can only be allocated by the Legislature along after an open and transparent process. The fund allows distribution of money to the Michigan Strategic Site Readiness Fund and the Critical Industry Fund to aid in site development, job attraction and retention as well as transformational projects. The state cannot make any investments without a legislative appropriation. (Note: This type of financial oversight is different than other incentive programs handled by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation [MEDC].) Learn more about these funds here.
The SOAR Fund appropriation included the following:
- $496 million for future economic investments ($206 million of which is re-appropriated from the exiting fund and prior year)
- $350 million for site development statewide, including:
- Grants to regional and local economic development organizations
- Strategic site improvements
- Remediation and redevelopment for future projects
- $27 million for upgrades to secure an investment from Hemlock Semiconductor, bringing the supply chain of chips home from China to Michigan.
For questions or more information, please contact Leah Robinson at lrobinson@michamber.com.