Gov. Reeves asks lawmakers to appropriate $350 million in state funds to Marshall County EV battery deal

Gov. Tate Reeves will ask lawmakers to finalize a deal to bring an electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility to Marshall County. Gov. Tate Reeves speaks during Mississippi Economic Council's 2023 Hobnob at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson, Miss. , Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Gov. Tate Reeves will call a Thursday special session to ask lawmakers to appropriate $350 million in state funds to close an economic development deal that would bring an electric vehicle battery facility to north Mississippi. The multibillion dollar project, if approved, is slated to be constructed at the Chickasaw Trails Industrial Park in Marshall County near the Mississippi-Tennessee state line. State officials recently invested around $1.1 million in the industrial park.that the project is a joint venture between Daimler Truck Holdings, PACCAR and Cummins Truck Holdings. The three manufacturers announced plans last year to jointly invest $2 billion to $3 billion in a battery production facility. 'Economic development is a team sport,' Reeves said. 'It's not partisan. It doesn't matter what part of the state it is. This is going to change lives for thousands and thousands of people in north Mississippi, in Marshall County and beyond. ' The project will include a $1.9 billion corporate capital investment, create 2,000 jobs and pay workers an average salary of $66,000, according to the governor, who is asking lawmakers to appropriate around $350 million in taxpayer funds to contribute to the project. About half the money the Legislature spends on the economic deal would go toward infrastructure around the facility, and the other half would go toward the business itself, Reeves said. The governor also said he was 'highly confident' the business leaders would offer a generous benefit package, including health insurance, to the employees at the new facility. The special session will begin on Thursday and both House Speaker Jason White, R-West, and Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said they anticipate legislation approving the deal will clear the House and Senate quickly. Rep. John Faulkner, D-Holly Springs, and Rep. Bill Kinkade, R-Byhalia, told Mississippi Today that the Marshall County Board of Supervisors and the local economic development leaders have worked with state officials for months on the project and believe it will improve the overall area. 'It's exciting for us,' Faulkner said of the economic project. 'I'm glad we have an opportunity to land this project in Marshall County. I think it's going to be a game changer and change lives. It's going to mean a tremendous amount of growth for our community. ' If lawmakers approve the economic development project, it will be the second type of deal since Reeves became governor where lawmakers have appropriated state tax dollars. Reeves signed legislation into law in November 2022 for money and tax incentives to benefit Steel Dynamics expanding in Columbus. MDOT plans 'Big Fix': $400M, 2½-year repair project for I-20 and I-55AG Lynn Fitch could have 'virtually unlimited latitude' to set how Mississippi's $189 million Meta settlement can be spentMississippi's last competitive US House races occurred in 2010. Will 2026 change the trend? Taylor Vance is a political reporter at Mississippi Today covering politics, government, courts, and campaigns. He joined the newsroom in 2023 after serving as local government reporter and Capitol correspondent for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. His work has earned honors from the Mississippi Press Association, the Green Eyeshade Awards, and Families As Allies for accountability reporting on Mississippi politics. A Grenada native, Taylor holds degrees from the University of Mississippi and Holmes Community College and lives in Jackson. Look for the"Republish This Story" button underneath each story. To republish online, simply click the button to copy the html code for the article. Please preserve our tracking code if at all possible, this helps us understand the impact and reach of our work and that helps us make the case to our funders to keep this work free for you to republish. You can't edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style. Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization. You have to credit Mississippi Today. We prefer 'Author Name, Mississippi Today' in the byline. If you're not able to add the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: 'This story was originally published by Mississippi Today' and include our website,