House Republican Leader Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, on Tuesday issued the following statement after the Michigan Strategic Fund awarded $65 million more for site development related to the proposed Ford BlueOval plant in Marshall, a project Ford confirmed on Monday it is pausing due to concerns about the plant’s ability to compete:

“Even with $1.8 billion in taxpayer support, Ford doesn’t know if this plant can be competitive in Michigan, and it doesn’t make sense to throw millions more taxpayer dollars at a stalled project. Another $65 million isn’t going to make up for the uncompetitive agenda Democrats are pushing to ban natural gas and raise energy prices, add a new tax on workers, and raise even more taxes next year to pay for their $82 billion budget — wasteful spending that ignored real needs to fix infrastructure and hire local police officers. Instead of giving away the people’s money to a few electric battery plants, we should invest in roads, bridges, and public safety and foster a competitive economy that will attract all kinds of business opportunities and careers to our state.”