G.M. To Lay Off 1,300 Michigan Workers Despite $824 Million in State Incentives

Published

1 year ago

December 21, 2023

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State governments want to attract companies to do business within their borders. Lacking creativity, many lawmakers resort to just giving out cash, either directly through grants or indirectly in the form of tax credits. The high-dollar giveaways often come at great expense to taxpayers, especially when the promised benefits fail to materialize.

Earlier this month, General Motors (G.M.) notified the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) that it planned to lay off more than 1,000 of its Michigan employees in 2024. While that’s troubling news for those 1,000 workers and their families, it’s also a blow to Michigan taxpayers, from whom the state promised hundreds of millions of dollars in public incentives.

In January 2022, G.M. announced that it would spend $7 billion on four Michigan-based projects, including $4 billion to convert its existing Orion Township factory to make electric pickup trucks like the GMC Sierra E.V. In return, the state agreed to as much as $824 million in incentives for G.M., including $600 million in grants, $66.1 million for infrastructure improvements, and a tax break valued at $158 million. Orion Township also approved a property tax abatement on the facility for 12 years, plus three years for construction.

A press release from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office bragged that G.M.’s investment would “create 4,000 and retain 1,000 jobs,” with the Orion Township overhaul expected to “create 2,300 jobs ” and “retain 1,000 jobs” by itself.

But in the time since, the market for electric vehicles has shifted. In the face of softening demand, G.M. announced in October that it would “retime the conversion of its Orion Assembly plant to EV truck production to late 2025” instead of 2024 as originally planned.

Since that announcement, the company has further signaled its intent to lay off more than 1,300 employees.

Under Michigan’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), employers are required to provide at least 60 days’ notice of any plant closures or mass layoffs to employees, LEO, and local government. G.M. provided notice in October and December that it would be “laying off indefinitely” a total of 945 employees from the Orion Township facility in January.

On December 7, the automaker further provided notice that it would lay off 369 employees from two of its facilities in Lansing.

This does not necessarily mean 1,314 auto workers will be on the unemployment line: CNBC reported in October that in accordance with G.M.’s delayed timeline, “roughly 1,000 hourly workers” at the Orion Township plant would “have the option to transfer to other Michigan facilities” until the factory conversion was complete.

It’s also possible that Michigan officials could claw back or postpone a portion of the incentives it previously promised. But in any event, a state government dangled more than $820 billion in taxpayer funds to influence the decisions of a multi-billion-dollar company.

The situation is all the more galling because of how officials spoke about the deal at the time. When Whitmer first announced G.M.’s investment and the state’s contribution to the project, G.M. CEO Mary Barra said, “These important investments would not have been possible without the strong support from the Governor, Michigan Legislature, Orion Township, the City of Lansing, Delta Township as well as our collaboration with the UAW and LG Energy Solution,” its partner at the time in building battery cell factories.

At the end of September, G.M. reported more than $25.2 billion in cash and cash equivalents. Even though it planned to spend $7 billion on its Michigan plants, Barra contended that the projects simply would not have been possible without $800 million in corporate welfare, an amount equal to just over 3 percent of the company’s cash on hand.

Politics

Argentine lawyer requests Interpol red notice for LIBRA creator: Report

Published

3 hours ago

March 13, 2025

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Argentine lawyer requests Interpol red notice for LIBRA creator: Report

Argentine lawyer Gregorio Dalbon has reportedly asked for a global arrest warrant to be issued for Hayden Davis, the co-creator of the LIBRA token that caused a political scandal in the country.

Dalbon submitted a request to prosecutor Eduardo Taiano and judge María Servini, who are probing President Javier Milei’s involvement in the memecoin, seeking for an Interpol Red Notice to be issued for Davis, local outlets Página 12 and Perfil reported on March 11.

Dalbon said in the filing that there was a “procedural risk” if Davis remained free as he could have access to vast amounts of money that would allow him to either flee the US or go into hiding.

“His central role in the creation and promotion of the $LIBRA cryptocurrency, coupled with the international impact of the case, increases the likelihood that he will take steps to evade justice,” the document reportedly stated.

Dalbon, who represented former Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in her corruption case, asked for Davis’ arrest and for “an Interpol red notice [to] be issued in order to locate and arrest him, with a view to his extradition.”

Interpol is the biggest international police organization and can issue Red Notices that request law enforcement agencies around the world to locate and provisionally arrest someone.

LIBRA is a token that Milei shared across his social media accounts just minutes after its creation on Feb. 14, which catapulted it to a peak value of over $4 billion. The token’s creators held most of the supply and quickly sold their holdings, which caused the token’s price to crash, with many claiming the token was a pump-and-dump scheme.

Days later, various lawyers reportedly filed fraud charges against Milei in an Argentine criminal court for promoting the token, while other lawyers reported the president for financial crimes to local authorities and to the US Justice Department.

Milei has claimed he didn’t “promote” the LIBRA token and insisted he just “spread the word” about it.

In a lengthy interview days after LIBRA’s collapse with YouTuber Stephen Findeisen, better known as “Coffeezilla,” Davis defended the token as a failure rather than a scam.

Davis and his firm, Kelsier Ventures, were the biggest winners from the LIBRA token launch. He claimed to Findeisen that he netted around $100 million but said he didn’t own the tokens and wouldn’t be selling them.

It was later reported that he sent a text message bragging about being able to pay Milei’s sister, Karina Milei, to have the president share the memecoin’s details on X. Davis later said he had no record of this on his phone and denied making payments to the Mileis.

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Politics

Ripple secures Dubai license to offer crypto payments in UAE

Published

4 hours ago

March 13, 2025

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Ripple secures Dubai license to offer crypto payments in UAE

Blockchain payment provider Ripple received full regulatory approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to offer cross-border crypto payment services in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The company announced on March 13 that it had secured its DFSA license, allowing it to operate in the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), a UAE free-economic zone with its own tax policies and regulatory framework.

The announcement came almost six months after the company announced its receipt of an in-principle approval of the DFSA license. On Oct. 1, 2024, Ripple revealed that it was working to become licensed by the DFSA as it aimed to roll out its digital asset infrastructure in the UAE.

Enabling blockchain-based global payments for UAE businesses

With this license, Ripple can now provide its global blockchain-based payment solutions to businesses across the UAE. The company said this allows it to cater to financial institutions looking for partners to help them use digital assets in real-world applications.

In a news release sent to Cointelegraph, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the UAE is “well-placed” to benefit from tech and crypto innovation, thanks to its early leadership and supportive environment:

“We are entering an unprecedented period of growth for the crypto industry, driven by greater regulatory clarity around the world and increasing institutional adoption.”

Ripple also reported that it had seen increased demand across the Middle East for cross-border payments. The company said the demand was not limited to crypto-native firms but also came from traditional financial institutions.

Ripple becomes the first crypto payment provider in the DIFC

With DFSA approval, Ripple has become the first blockchain-enabled payments provider to operate within DIFC’s free zone, according to DIFC CEO Arif Amiri.

”We are thrilled that Ripple is deepening their commitment to Dubai by securing a DFSA license that makes them the first blockchain-enabled payments provider in DIFC,” he said.

The license allows Ripple to tap into opportunities in the UAE and the broader MENA region, he added.

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Politics

Nebraska governor signs bill to regulate crypto ATMs, citing growing fraud

Published

4 hours ago

March 13, 2025

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Nebraska governor signs bill to regulate crypto ATMs, citing growing fraud

The governor of Nebraska, Jim Pillen, has signed legislation to protect against cryptocurrency fraud as crypto ATM crime skyrockets in the United States.

“Cryptocurrency is an important, emerging industry, and we’ve been working hard to build Nebraska into a cryptocurrency leader,” said Governor Pillen on March 12 following the signing of the bill.

“An important part of these efforts is to make sure that we have guardrails to prevent criminals from taking advantage of Nebraskans,” he added.

The bipartisan legislation establishes the “Controllable Electronic Record Fraud Prevention Act,” which is designed to help combat fraud and protect users of crypto kiosks and ATMs.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, victims have lost over $65 million to crypto ATM fraud in the first half of 2024. “Fraud losses at BTMs (Bitcoin ATMs) are skyrocketing, increasing nearly tenfold from 2020 to 2023,” the commission reported in September.

The bill, LB 609, was introduced on Jan. 22 by Senator Eliot Bostar. It stipulates that crypto ATM and kiosk operators must be licensed under Nebraska’s Money Transmitters Act and registered and approved by the Department of Banking and Finance. Operators must provide quarterly reports on kiosk locations, names and transaction data.

It also implements transaction limits of $2,000 per day for new users and $5,000 per day for existing customers, and fees cannot exceed 18% of the transaction value.

New customers who report fraud within 90 days can receive a full refund including fees, while existing customers can be refunded for the fees associated with fraudulent transactions.

Kiosk operators must also display fraud warnings and appoint a compliance officer to enforce fraud prevention measures, it states.

The US crypto ATM network shrunk by more than 1,200 machines earlier this month after Illinois Senator Dick Durbin introduced similar legislation.

“Nebraska is open for business in the cryptocurrency space,” commented state Department of Banking director Kelly Lammers, who added, “those that target our citizens … using crypto ATMs as part of their transfer method, we will soon have a team that will be watching even more closely.”

While being supportive of crypto, Nebraska has yet to join the 21 US states that have proposed legislation to establish strategic crypto reserves, according to the Bitcoin Reserve Monitor.

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