Pritzker signs bill incentivizing electric vehicle manufacturing
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (KHQA) — Governor JB Pritzker on Tuesday signed the Reimagining Electric Vehicles in Illinois Act into law, incentivizing EV production across Illinois.
The new incentives is designed to boost the state’s entire EV ecosystem, by helping to build facilities, train Illinois graduates, and create thousands of jobs. This is a step toward the Pritzker administration’s benchmarks: putting one million electric vehicles on the road by 2030.
The legislation includes tax credits for income tax withholding, training costs, tax exemptions, and investment credits, as well as allowing local jurisdictions to abate property taxes for EV projects. EVs include vehicles exclusively powered by electricity and include electric cars and motorcycles. The legislation prioritizes underserved communities and communities impacted by energy transitions.
“By signing the Reimagining Electric Vehicles in Illinois Act into law, we’re making clear to the world that Illinois is open for business and on track to be the best place in the nation to manufacture and drive an electric vehicle,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “It’s no secret that transportation is the leading source of climate pollution – so we’re incentivizing green economic development. It’s good for business – and it’s the right thing to do. The Reimagining Electric Vehicles Act is about acknowledging there doesn’t need to be a trade-off between a cleaner environment and more jobs. We can do both, and today we take a giant leap forward in that quest.”
The credits range from 75% to 100% of income tax withheld for creating new jobs or 25% to 50% for retained employees, depending on various factors such as company location.
Additional elements include a 20% price preference for EVs built in Illinois for state procurements and the creation of an EV Permitting Task Force to ensure permits for EV projects are streamlined. The legislation builds upon the administration’s commitment to improving the state’s infrastructure, by permitting the Illinois Department of Transportation, IDOT, to prioritize road projects that directly assist with locating an EV facility and the project’s infrastructure needs.
