An Oklahoma lawmaker has filed a bill that would ban electric vehicle makers from receiving cash from a governor-controlled state incentive program after Canoo furloughed workers and closed factories in the state. 

Senate Bill 294, authored by Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, would exclude electric vehicle manufacturers from receiving payments from the Governor’s Quick Action Closing Fund. The program is intended to help Oklahoma recruit and keep high-impact economic development projects. The governor has the power to approve cash awards from the fund after a recommendation from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce.

Pugh said he filed the bill because he thinks the state needs to shift its focus away from trying to make Oklahoma a hub for electric vehicle manufacturing. Oklahoma has tried unsuccessfully in recent years to lure electric vehicle and battery manufacturers like Tesla and Panasonic with big incentive deals. As The Frontier first reported, Canoo was an unproven startup and its electric vehicles were still in development when Oklahoma pledged the company millions of dollars in state incentives.

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Canoo, which has received money from the Quick Action Closing Fund, closed factories in Oklahoma City and Pryor late last year and furloughed workers right before the holidays. Some of Canoo’s equipment is now scheduled to be sold at an online auction later this month. 

“We’ve chased several companies and we haven’t been successful,” Pugh said. “And there’s been companies here that now are going out of business and employees are affected by that.” 

Canoo was eligible to collect about $100 million dollars through various state and local incentive programs after announcing plans to manufacturer electric cars in Oklahoma.

Stitt pledged up to $15 million from the Quick Action Closing Fund to Canoo in 2022 on promises the startup electric vehicle company would build a factory and create hundreds of new jobs. The deal was the largest ever awarded since the Quick Action program was created under Gov. Mary Fallin in 2011.

The state later trimmed Canoo’s potential Quick Action award to $7.5 million and then again to $4.5 million after the company failed to meet performance goals. Canoo only collected $1 million of the money after it had created 100 new jobs in the state in January 2024.

Stitt’s office did not respond to questions about Canoo or Pugh’s bill. 

Canoo’s contract with the state requires the company to repay the Quick Action Closing Fund money within 30 days if it lays off 80% or more of the workers within 18 months of receiving the incentives. 

The Oklahoma Department of Commerce is now weighing its options.

“The Department of Commerce has been in contact with Canoo and is having internal discussions about the best way to protect taxpayer dollars,” Chase Horn, a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement. 

Attempts to reach a representative for Canoo were unsuccessful. The company’s factory off Interstate 40 in Oklahoma City was mostly dark on a recent weekday. A man wearing a Canoo  baseball cap opened the locked front door and said there was no one available to speak to The Frontier.

Pugh said he believes Oklahoma should spend more time supporting and growing other industries that are already an important part of the state’s economy, like aerospace.

“There’s too many businesses here that I think we’re neglecting that are growing,” he said.