{"id":141997,"date":"2026-09-03T16:44:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/141997\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T16:44:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:44:08","slug":"mcdonald-rivet-voices-doubts-about-effectiveness-of-corporate-welfare-michigan-capitol-confidential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/141997\/","title":{"rendered":"McDonald Rivet voices doubts about effectiveness of corporate welfare \u2013 Michigan Capitol Confidential"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\tNews Story<\/a><\/p>\n


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\n\t\t\t\t\u2018It\u2019s market forces that keep businesses alive. Not tax incentives, not economic incentives.\u2019 \n\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

A Tesla charges in Bellaire, Michigan. SK Siltron CSS in Bay County produced silicon carbide wafers used in electric vehicles before it closed. | Scott McClallen \/ Mackinac Center<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet expressed skepticism of state business subsidies in recent comments about the closure of a taxpayer-supported tech business, a view in sharp contrast to her past support of taxpayer subsidies for private businesses.<\/p>\n

The Bay City Democrat blamed President Trump\u2019s economic policies for the closure of SK Siltron CSS, which manufactures silicon carbide wafers used in electric vehicles and other high-powered products. But McDonald Rivet also acknowledged that the subsidies she supported in the past failed to benefit Michigan taxpayers or bring success for the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not lose the SK Silitron plant because of an economic incentive plan. We lost because the (EV) market is collapsing,\u201d she said<\/a> in an Aug. 20 news conference addressing the failure of the business. \u201cBut it’s the market forces that keep businesses alive. Not tax incentives, not economic incentives. It’s market forces. And when those winds are blowing against you, it’s very hard for businesses.”<\/p>\n

SK Siltron announced in July that it would close the Bay County facility and lay off 140 workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on changes in market conditions, SK Siltron will wind down its U.S.-based SK Siltron CSS subsidiary,\u201d spokesman Joe Guy Collier told<\/a> MLive. \u201cSK Siltron appreciates the hard work and dedication of its Michigan employees as well as the strong support from local, state and federal officials.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plant received nearly $6 million<\/a> in incentives. McDonald Rivet supported that largesse, along with millions in other taxpayer subsidies, when she served in the Capitol as a state senator. <\/p>\n

“I secured funding that helped bring new manufacturing sites to mid-Michigan, including Corning, SK Siltron, and Hemlock Semiconductor, and, hopefully, a major project in Mundy Township soon,” McDonald Rivet told the Midland Daily News<\/a> in October 2024.<\/p>\n

During her senate career, McDonald Rivet supported a subsidy of more than $100 million<\/a> to Corning, a company that manufactures solar components. Those incentives include a $68 million performance-based Critical Industries Program grant through the Strategic Outreach and Reserve Fund, a 15-Year State Essential Services Assessment Exemption valued at $12.3 million, and a $29 million Strategic Site Readiness Program grant to Thomas Township for public infrastructure, according to a 2024 press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SOAR was defunded in the 2025-26 budget.<\/p>\n

McDonald Rivet praised the Biden administration\u2019s 2024 $325 million grant<\/a> to Hemlock Semiconductor in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe return on this investment, and all the high-paying jobs it will generate, will have a positive impact on mid-Michigan families now and for generations to come,\u201d she stated in a press release.<\/p>\n

McDonald Rivet voted in the Senate Appropriations Committee to approve, at the time, $175 million in subsidies for the hotly disputed Gotion<\/a> battery manufacturing plant in Big Rapids, a project that made national news when local residents pushed back against the plan.<\/p>\n

McDonald Rivet blamed \u201cmisinformation\u201d for the dustup during a 2023 event<\/a> at MI Element in Midland. The project eventually collapsed when the Hefei, China-based company pulled out of plans to open its doors in Michigan.<\/p>\n

She also called the Michigan Economic Development Corporation\u2019s March 2024 award<\/a> to four companies \u201cgood news for our Bay region\u2019s economy and workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDonald Rivet did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

In the Aug. 20 press conference, McDonald Rivet posited<\/a> that the failure of SK Siltron was attributable to Trump\u2019s tariff policies and the elimination of electric vehicle subsidies via the One Big Beautiful Bill. <\/p>\n

The White House did not respond to an email seeking comment, but a Michigan expert noted that McDonald Rivet\u2019s assessment omits the history of low demand for electric vehicles.<\/p>\n

Chaotic tariff policy and the Iran war have hurt Michigan\u2019s economy and raised energy prices, Chris Douglas, associate professor of Economics at the University of Michigan-Flint, told CapCon in an email. <\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, what we are seeing in the case of this business and others is that there is very little consumer demand for electric vehicles absent government subsidies. My guess is that cost (including the cost of installing a charger at home), range, and charging time are all limiting factors that are preventing many consumers from switching from internal combustion engines to EVs. If anything, high oil and gasoline prices should have made EVs more desirable to consumers, but this does not appear to have happened. Essentially through tax subsidies, the government created a demand for a product there otherwise would be little consumer demand for, so it is not surprising that as these subsidies are removed, demand is subsequently falling.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"News Story \u2018It\u2019s market forces that keep businesses alive. Not tax incentives, not economic incentives.\u2019 A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[1298,18482,72095,2560,241,240,1722],"class_list":["post-141997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sk","tag-electric-vehicles","tag-federal-government","tag-mcdonald-rivet","tag-michigan","tag-sk","tag-sk-group","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}