Michigan Governor Rick Snyder can add "award-winning" to his title, though he's probably in no rush to draw attention to this accolade: The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation has named Michigan one of four states to receive The 2014 Luddite Award, thanks to those states' legislation preventing Tesla Motors from selling cars directly to customers. Uh, congrats?
You may remember how, back in October, Michigan State Senator Joe Hune plopped a last-second amendment onto a bill, strengthening and clarifying the state's ban on direct-to-consumer auto sales. State Senator Hune, a Republican, counts the Michigan Automobile Dealers Association as one of his top financial backers; the rushed addition never received public comment or debate on the State Senate floor; and when Gov. Snyder signed it into law, he drew praise from that scrappy, innovative automotive upstart, General Motors.
That action drew the attention of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, a "non-profit, non-partisan think tank whose mission is to formulate and promote public policies to advance technological innovation and productivity internationally, in Washington, and in the states." So along with Arizona, New Jersey, and Texas, the great state of Michigan's dealer cartel-driven anti-Tesla legislation earns it the ITIF's first annual Luddite Award.
The award "recognizes the ten organizations and or individuals that have done the most in 2014 to smash the engines of innovation," says the announcement. And when you think about it, banning customers from buying the innovative, American-made vehicles they desire in order to protect the crony, outmoded franchise dealership system is a pretty fitting way to earn this dubious award. Don't just take our word for it: Even noted Snyder fan Dan Gilbert was left scratching his head at the anti-free-market, anti-consumer legislation when the Governor signed it in October.
Bob Sorokanich previously served as deputy editor of Road & Track Magazine. He is based in New York City.
