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Regular Session, 2010
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 229
BY REPRESENTATIVE BURRELL
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To memorialize the United States Congress to take such actions as are necessary to direct
available federal funding and resources including the possible use of the federal
Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program for the purpose of
enhancing the monetary and workforce values to investors or manufacturers who
may be interested in utilizing the existing facilities and workforce at the General
Motors/Motors Liquidation Assembly Facility.
WHEREAS, General Motors (GM), also known as Motors Liquidation, has
announced its intent to cease production at the Shreveport, Louisiana General Motors/Motors
Liquidation assembly facility; and
WHEREAS, the Shreveport GM facility began its operation in Caddo Parish in
August 1981 employing more than three thousand employees; and
WHEREAS, the GM facility has proven itself to be a major contributor to Caddo and
surrounding parishes as the second largest taxpayer and at one time, the largest employer in
the parish; and
WHEREAS, due to the recent downturn in the economy and financial problems in
General Motors Corporation, currently, the workforce has been drastically reduced to
approximately eight hundred employees; and
WHEREAS, the Shreveport GM facility has made economic contributions to the city
of Shreveport, the surrounding parishes, and the state for over thirty years; and
WHEREAS, most currently in 2009, GM had an annual payroll of forty-five million
dollars, four million one hundred thousand dollars in property taxes, and over eighty
thousand dollars in charitable contributions; and
WHEREAS, these contributions have been a vital contributing factor to the economic
well-being and existence for the city of Shreveport, surrounding parishes, and the state of
Louisiana; and ENROLLEDHCR NO. 229
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WHEREAS, located in Northeast Louisiana, East Texas, and extending into
Arkansas, which includes Caddo Parish in Northeast Louisiana, the Haynesville Shale is the
largest natural gas field in the continental United States; and
WHEREAS, the Haynesville Shale holds approximately two hundred and fifty-one
trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas; and
WHEREAS, domestic gas is a resource that can replace imported gasoline and diesel
as a transportation fuel; and
WHEREAS, currently, the federal Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing
Loan Program, certain manufacturers may be eligible for direct loans for up to thirty percent
of the cost of re-equipping, expanding, or establishing manufacturing facilities in the United
States used to produce qualified advanced technology vehicles (ATV) or ATV components;
and
WHEREAS, qualified ATVs are light-duty vehicles or ultra-efficient vehicles that
meet specified federal emission standards and fuel economy requirements; and
WHEREAS, congress is currently considering the New Alternative Transportation
to Give Americans Solutions (H.R. 1835 and S. 1408) which provides incentives to move
cars and light trucks as well as heavy-duty trucks from imported gasoline or diesel to
domestic natural gas and encourages development of engines that reduce emissions, improve
performance and efficiency, and lower cost; and
WHEREAS, the assembly facility is one of the most modern and versatile
automotive production facilities in the domestic automotive industry due, in part, to the
facility's approximately three million square feet of assembly space under roof, an on-site
metal stamping plant, and electric power plant; and
WHEREAS, one option for the assembly facility would be to convert the facility to
the production of alternative fuel vehicles; and
WHEREAS, the facility is served by a fully functional supplier network of fourteen
supplier facilities; and
WHEREAS, the facility is in close proximity to three major area airports (Dallas,
Houston, and Shreveport), railroad and interstate highway systems in good working order,
and a navigable inland industrial port facility with access to the world market; and ENROLLEDHCR NO. 229
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WHEREAS, the facility currently employs a highly trained workforce that has been
recognized many times in the last three decades for its efficiency and production skills by
the GM Corporation; and
WHEREAS, a pool of residents in the immediate area, in addition to the currently
employed workforce, have prior manufacturing experience and training; and
WHEREAS, the economic consequences of the loss of this facility will negatively
impact the citizens and the city of Shreveport, the surrounding area, and the state of
Louisiana on many levels.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana hereby
memorializes the president of the United States, the Louisiana congressional delegation, and
the Congress of the United States of America to use any and all powers vested in the
president and the United States Congress to direct any available funding from federal
resources for the purpose of enhancing the existing and potential monetary and workforce
values to investors or manufacturers who may be interested in utilizing the existing facilities
and workforce at the General Motors Liquidation Assembly Facility.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Congress of the
United States of America and to each member of the Louisiana congressional delegation.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE