To: State Department Directors and Autonomous Agency Heads
From: Governor Gretchen Whitmer
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is commonsense legislation that will lower the cost of prescription drugs, health care, and energy, and create and protect millions of good-paying manufacturing jobs.
Michigan can use the IRA to get things done that make a real difference in people’s lives. Building on work that is already underway, we can lower costs for families and businesses, expand opportunities for workers, protect our air and water, and make state government more efficient.
Michigan has received multiple awards for its manufacturing capabilities and was recently named the top state in the country for energy sector job growth. Last December, we worked across the aisle to equip Michigan with powerful economic development tools to win transformational projects and build our manufacturing strength. This bipartisan collaboration has already paid off, bringing over 10,000 jobs and billions in investment to our state in less than a year, including massive projects from firms across a range of industries.
Our state is also home to world-class research institutions and innovative businesses. Our bright, hardworking people empower us to lead the world in cutting-edge technologies, and we have supported our working families by fighting payroll fraud to preserve pay and benefits, reinstating prevailing wage for state construction projects, and putting Michigan first in state purchasing decisions.
In Executive Directive 2021-13, I directed state departments and autonomous agencies to leverage federal dollars to build on Michigan’s manufacturing and research capabilities in the electric vehicle sector. Today, we must bring that same capability to bear in making use of the IRA’s tools. We will use the IRA to build on our legendary manufacturing heritage, unleash the potential of our people and businesses, and ensure we continue to lead the future of mobility and electrification.
In Michigan, the IRA will help us build and retool factories and empower us to keep manufacturing electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels, and so much more in the United States. It will surge clean energy production, drive down gas prices, reduce our reliance on foreign oil, and create millions of jobs. Investing the IRA’s resources will fight climate change and protect our precious natural resources—including our air and water.
The IRA will harness Michigan’s strengths as an industrial state and help companies adopt more sustainable practices. In Michigan, we know that a thriving economy depends on a healthy climate, and the investments enabled by the IRA will put us on a path to an economy that is stronger than ever, led by the most innovative and advanced manufacturing sector in the nation.
In April, we unveiled a roadmap—the MI Healthy Climate Plan—to decarbonize Michigan’s entire economy by 2050 with interim emissions reductions goals in 2025 and 2030. We have also invested millions of dollars into the state’s nonprofit green bank, Michigan Saves, to lower energy costs by helping families and businesses making energy improvements to their homes and establishments. The IRA will accelerate our work to meet the goals of the MI Healthy Climate Plan.
We must deploy every available resource from the IRA to create good-paying jobs for Michigan workers and make Michigan competitive for investment.
Acting under sections 1 and 8 of article 5 of the Michigan Constitution of 1963, I direct state departments and autonomous agencies to do all of the following:
- Departments and agencies must review the IRA and take all appropriate steps, consistent with applicable law, to maximize Michigan’s allocation of federal funds—both formula and discretionary—including through supplying information about funding opportunities to partners that will use these dollars to expand, invest, or conduct research in Michigan.
- To carry out this directive, each department and agency that may have a role in securing funding under the IRA must identify, within 30 days, a designee from within the department or agency to oversee the department or agency’s efforts, facilitate inter-departmental coordination, and engage in outreach and planning with potential partners, including private companies, institutions of higher education, and neighboring states.
- Departments and agencies should identify affected stakeholder communities and conduct outreach to ensure that they are aware of the opportunities to apply for federal funds and, where appropriate, coordinate such applications. Such outreach should include geographically disadvantaged business enterprises (as defined by Executive Directive 2019-08) and Michigan-based businesses (as set forth in Executive Directive 2019-15).
- All departments and agencies should develop first-class procedures that meet or exceed federal requirements to improve their capacity to secure discretionary federal grant funding.
- Departments and agencies should work with the Legislature to leverage federal dollars to position Michigan as the national leader in electric vehicles, domestic energy, advanced manufacturing, and climate action.
- To bring more investments and high-paying jobs to Michigan, departments and agencies should aggressively pursue discretionary federal grants by working with Michigan’s congressional delegation, local governments, and community partners.
- Departments should continue engaging with research and educational institutions to increase opportunities for research and development and alignment on educational programming, job training, and workforce and talent development.
- The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) should continue engaging with the private sector to attract opportunities for companies in electric vehicle, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing to invest in Michigan. Other departments and agencies must support these efforts and otherwise contribute to helping Michigan attract long-term sustainable investments.
- The Michigan Infrastructure Office should identify opportunities to utilize IRA policies to augment efforts currently underway to maximize Michigan's share of resources under the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and to improve infrastructure in Michigan.
- The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity should coordinate with other departments and agencies to identify opportunities to support workforce development in the state geared toward the needs of the electric vehicle, clean energy, clean fuels, and advanced manufacturing sectors. This may include adapting existing workforce development programs, collaborating with partners such as institutions of higher education, establishing new programs to provide targeted education and training, and exploring opportunities to secure federal funding to support such programs.
- The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development should leverage all available federal dollars and engage with private landowners and farmers to implement smart agriculture practices that increase yields and protect our natural resources.
- All departments and agencies that utilize IRA funds should, pursuant to sections 2, 3, and 8 of Executive Directive 2020-10, work with the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and its Office of Climate and Energy to use the funds in ways that accelerate implementation of the MI Healthy Climate Plan.
- EGLE, particularly the Office of Climate and Energy, Materials Management Division, and Office of the Environmental Justice Public Advocate, should identify opportunities like the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and Climate Pollution Reduction Fund Grants to accelerate the implementation of the MI Healthy Climate Plan. These efforts should include the commitment to invest at least 40 percent of federal climate dollars into environmental justice communities. EGLE must integrate funding opportunities for local jurisdiction into the Catalyst Communities program.
- The Department of Natural Resources should engage with private landowners and communities to support forestry conservation programs and natural climate solutions that sequester carbon.
Click to view the full PDF of the executive directive.
