VP Kamala Harris Reveals $100 Million Funding To Aid Auto Workers

Vice President Kamala Harris announced that more than $100 million will be allocated for the auto industry. The White House stated that this funding will be used to assist auto workers, as well as small and medium-sized auto parts manufacturers, in "expanding or retooling manufacturing facilities."

According to the Office of the VP, historic contracts secured by the United Auto Workers with Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, known as the Big 3 Detroit automakers, along with victories at Volkswagen in Tennessee, ensure that future jobs in the auto industry will provide "comparable wages, retirement security, and respect at work," Reuters reported.

The $100 million funding will be divided into two parts. The Department of Energy will set aside $50 million of its Automotive Conversion Grants Program, and the other $50 million will come from the DOE's Industrial Assessments Center Implementation Grants Program.

One of the main goals of the funding is to establish partnerships with states to assist suppliers in transitioning their businesses from manufacturing parts for internal combustion engines to manufacturing parts for EVs.

Another objective is to help auto suppliers "kickstart manufacturing diversification and conversion projects." The program was funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of Pres. Joe Biden and is also covered by the President's Justice40 Initiative, providing entities that received an Industrial Assessment Center with grants of up to $300,000. The grant aims to help them improve material efficiency, energy efficiency, productivity, cybersecurity, and measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The initiative to support autoworkers and small to medium-sized auto industries is still part of the Investing in America agenda, the program of Pres. Biden and VP Harris aimed at building the economy from the middle-out to the bottom-up, providing significant funding to various sectors to reach every corner of the U.S. Accordingly, since the program began, companies have announced investments of more than $170 billion in EVs and battery supply chain manufacturing. The U.S. auto industry has also added more than 250,000 jobs after losing approximately 90,000 jobs in the previous administration.

According to the White House's press release, these actions are based on the ongoing commitment to ensure that the businesses and workers that built the American auto industry will remain as anchors of the community for generations to come. This will include more than 250,000 auto workers in small and medium-sized auto suppliers across the U.S.