Bob Jauch: It’s not a ‘sweetheart deal’ if I like the company

By Ryan Ekvall | Wisconsin Reporter

MADISON — What constitutes corporate welfare, it seems, is in the eyes of the beholder — especially in the statehouse.

Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, seems to have a double standard when it comes to supporting legislation to the benefit of one corporation.

When it’s a company he wants to push out of the state — mining giant Gogebic Taconite LLC — such legislation is an “exclusive sweetheart deal.”

When it’s a company he wants to hold on to, it is “real-world business friendly” legislation.

Jauch and state Rep. Nick Milroy, D-South Range, put out a news release earlier this week announcing legislation that would “eliminate the need for Stella-Jones to purchase a costly bond in order to receive a solid waste permit” by changing some unspecified financial requirements.

Although the lawmakers refer to Stella-Jones as a “new manufacturer,” the publicly traded Canada-based company has been around since 1992.

The company posted $277 million in sales and $26.4 million in net income in the second quarter this year.

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