Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group plans to build a $10 billion, 20 million-square-foot LCD panel manufacturing complex in southeastern Wisconsin. The state is offering a $3 billion incentive package to the company.
Gov. Scott Walker’s administration negotiated the deal, which is opposed by some Democrats in the Legislature, including state Rep. Jonathan Brostoff (D-Milwaukee).
“YES”
Gov. Scott Walker
The proposal
“It will be the largest economic development project in state history and one of the biggest in the history of our country. Foxconn will have a transformational effect for generations to come in much the same way Silicon Valley transformed the San Francisco Bay Area and the Research Triangle transformed North Carolina. We’re calling it ‘Wisconn Valley.’”
The Incentive package
“Foxconn invests $10 billion and creates 13,000 jobs paying an average $53,875 per year, plus benefits. In turn, the state provides up to $3 billion worth of incentives. We believe that Foxconn will exceed its goals, but if it does not, it won’t get the full incentive package. There are plenty of safeguards for the taxpayers.”
The future
“The fact that this global corporation chose Wisconsin over every other state in America and every other place in the world should make us feel proud. Our future has never been brighter.”
“NO”
Rep. Jonathan Brostoff
The proposal
“Look at who we are dealing with: Scott Walker, Foxconn and Donald Trump. First we have Walker, a politician whose credibility on jobs is seriously lacking. Then we have Foxconn, the same company that lied about the factory they were going to set up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Finally we have Trump, who is personally taking credit for single-handedly making this happen. I can think of no politician in American history who has lied more about everything and anything.”
The Incentive package
“For the $3 billion demanded by Foxconn, we can fix every pothole in the state with Wisconsin workers, reduce our public school classroom sizes by hiring hundreds of new teachers, reinvest in our university system (a $15 billion annual economic activity generator), and still have money left over.”
The future
“A better use of our resources for economic development would be to invest in small businesses already invested in our state and here for the long haul. Not some company that wants to suck as much of our resources as possible, then leave us as quickly as they came.”
