Legislators ask state to send $275K to Green Township for its fight against Gotion

Residents of Green Charter Township would find some relief from the township’s legal bills if Michigan lawmakers approve an earmark request in the next state budget. Township officials face a lawsuit from Gotion, a Chinese company that alleges a breach of contract.

Gotion, which has close ties to the Chinese Communist Party, manufactures electric battery components and plans to construct a plant in the township, which local officials approved. Those officials were replaced by others, who revoked the approval given by their predecessors, leading to the lawsuit.

Rep. Tom Kunse, R-Clare, requested $275,000 from the 2026 state budget to defray some of the township’s expenses. The earmark is one of approximately 800 requests for pork funding House members have submitted for the upcoming budget.

Township residents who oppose Gotion’s plan cite the company’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party and the potential environmental impact facility would have on the community.

Kunse told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an email that he requested the money because the state imposed the plant on township residents.

“The state is responsible for creating this mess and the state should clean it up,” he said. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced in October 2022 that the state would extend hundreds of millions of dollars to the company through various subsidy programs.

The township’s $275,000 legal bill represents only 0.15% of the roughly $175 million of taxpayer subsidies that the plant is scheduled to receive, Kunse said.

“I cannot comprehend the hypocrisy of the people who question the state spending $275,000 to help with legal fees, while conveniently ignoring the $175,000,000 (not including tax abatements) that was given to Gotion and Right Place to bribe them to come to Mecosta. For the readers who struggle with math: The legal fee funding is 0.16% (0.00157) of the money given to Gotion / Right Place.” The Right Place is an economic development agency.

Kunse said employees of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation hid behind non-disclosure agreements, and the community was not allowed to have a say in the project.

“Government should be small, transparent and local — and they violated every one of those tenets,” Kunse added of state officials and others.

After township trustees approved the Gotion development in August 2023, its members were recalled or resigned. A new board rescinded the township’s support for the project at a December 2023 meeting. Gotion filed suit the following March, alleging breach of contract.

The township, located in Mecosta County, argues that the agreement was invalid because former board members never discussed or approved the final document in a public meeting, township Supervisor Jason Kruse said on the township website.

Gotion has not been forthcoming with information about environmental concerns, he added.

“Most recently, Gotion objected to providing basic information, such as its water plans, site plans, and similar documents,” Kruse wrote. The company, he said, was keeping its plans from public view.

Gotion did not respond to a request for comment. Township officials did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Development on the project is halted, and Gotion’s lawsuit against the township is currently pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.