Macon Reporter

State Representative Dan Caulkins (R-Macon) has expressed deep concerns over the state of Illinois issuing $125 million in checks to the Chinese-owned company Gotion without any requirement for completed work.

The first check, dated Dec. 8, 2023, was reportedly issued just three days after zoning approval, and the second check, dated Jan. 2, 2024, came less than two weeks after the property's deed was recorded to a new owner.

The $125 million payment was made from a deal closing fund without the need for additional approvals. 

"This deal is the most offensive, outrageous thing I have ever heard of! While people were busy with the holidays and figuring out how to afford a nice Christmas, Governor Pritzker gave away massive amounts of our money to a foreign company that hasn't done anything to earn it,” Caulkins said in a press release. 

"This deal has smelled bad from the beginning. Pritzker is funding our enemy. Gotion is controlled by Chinese communists, our number one political, economic and military adversary and they are setting up shop in Illinois to compete against American companies. Additionally, the EV market is falling apart. Gotion could sit on our millions and make millions more off of the $125 million without doing anything constructive. There is no way Pritzker would make this deal if he were using his own money.”

In late December, Concerned Citizens of Manteno, a non-profit group, took legal action by filing a lawsuit against Gotion and the Village of Manteno regarding the proposed Gotion plant.  

The lawsuit challenges the zoning change approved by the Manteno Planning Commission, expressing concerns about health safety and environmental impacts.

That action coincided with U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood introducing the NO GOTION Act to prevent CCP-affiliated companies from benefiting from green energy tax credits.

The Gotion plant is being offered over $8 billion in incentives for 2,600 jobs, equating to over $3 million per job, according to Wirepoints’ Mark Glennon. 

Of this amount, $536 million is borne by Illinois taxpayers, averaging $200,000 per job, well above the national average of $50,000-60,000 in other states Glennon pointed out.

The plant is expected to cost only $2 billion to construct. 

Pritzker initially announced the deal back in September without input from local residents. 

At the time he heralded the plant as the largest investment in Illinois in decades.

Meanwhile critics, such as Coalition for a Prosperous America Chairman Zach Mottl, have called out the close connection between Gotion and the Chinese Communist Party. 

“To give that money to a Chinese company that is already subsidized by the Chinese government is a serious mistake. China’s goal is to dominate the global battery industry, and forcing American taxpayers to unwittingly fund the CCP’s ambitions is a direct threat to U.S. economic and national security,” Mottl said in a statement after the project’s announcement.