By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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LOVES PARK — Manufacturers who make electric vehicles in Illinois would earn tax credits under a bill filed by state Rep. Dave Vella, the latest step in a regional effort to strengthen the future of one of the area’s largest employers.
House Bill 4155, which Vella filed Sept. 27, would provide a credit for capital expenses to retool facilities to make electric vehicles or EV batteries. It would also create a credit for training and qualified utility payments.
“My goal is to bring manufacturing back to the area because those are the jobs that will bring the economy back,” Vella said. “My job is to make more jobs, that’s it.”
Vella’s proposal would change the state’s income tax code to create a credit equal to 75% of withholding payments to new employees hired for electric vehicle initiatives.
“My idea was to find a way to tie this incentive to hiring people,” Vella said.
“I want good jobs, and the more money they pay their people, the more money they’re going to get in incentives,” he said. “And the more people they hire, the more incentive they get. Hopefully it’s a new way of spurring investment in the company.”
The bill was sparked by discussions around the region about how to sustain the future of the Belvidere Assembly Plant. The plant, despite recent setbacks that led it to reduce from three shifts to one and a global microchip shortage that forced its closure through the end of the month, remains one of the region’s largest employers. It employs more than 2,500 people and supports jobs at supplier companies across northern Illinois. The plant’s workforce comes from a 70-mile radius.
Local government leaders say state incentives to support electric vehicle production could help Stellantis, which owns the Belvidere Assembly Plant where Jeep Cherokees are built, retain and expand its operations and the work of suppliers. The Northern Illinois Council of Governments, a nonprofit organization that includes leaders from several local government agencies, approved a resolution last month urging the state to incentivize electric vehicle production. The Belvidere City Council followed that last week with a resolution of its own.
“These conversations simply cannot wait. The people of the Rockford region, and all of Illinois, are relying on Illinois aggressively pursuing the future automotive space,” said Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara, the chairman of the Northern Illinois Council of Governments, and Mike Dunn Jr., the executive director, in a letter to Gov. JB Pritzker. “We believe it starts with retaining Stellantis, inducing their investment into our community and employing our skilled workforce.”
Stellantis has not indicated any desire to build electric vehicles in Belvidere, but the company said in July it plans to invest roughly $35 billion in electrification through 2025. It wants more than 40% of its sales in the country to be be low-emission vehicles by 2030, and it plans to offer fully electric vehicles for all 14 of its brands.
Illinois now has two electric vehicle plants: Rivian in Normal and Lion in Joliet.
“The electric vehicle market is moving fast,” Vella said. “There’s a lot we can do here to try to turn Illinois into the EV manufacturer of the Midwest.”
Vella said turning the state’s attention to electric vehicle manufacturing is a natural next step after passing a massive clean energy bill last month. That bill puts Illinois on a path to carbon-free energy by 2050, and it saved the Byron nuclear plant from closure by providing Exelon with millions in incentives. Exelon has since said more than $140 million in capital improvements will be made at the Byron Generating Station.
Related: From sleepless nights to heartfelt thanks, Byron nuclear plant employees describe life with their jobs on the line
“There’s a lot of concern in Belvidere, especially, that this plant is going to shut down,” Vella said. “I saw what happened in Byron, and in Byron they didn’t give up and we won. We kept the plant open. We have to do the same thing in Belvidere.”
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This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas.