Wisconsin 'Overpaid' For Foxconn Deal, Washington Post Says

WISCONSIN -- A new analysis by The Washington Post has revealed that Foxconn got a bigger financial incentive package from Wisconsin than Amazon did from three states combined - and a comparably smaller payoff for their investment.

Surrounded by political allies, adversaries, and a raft of Wisconsin's top business leaders, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed the state's largest-ever incentive package into law - a $2.85 billion bill designed to lure electronics manufacturer Foxconn to Racine County during a special ceremony in Sept 2017.

According to the Washington Post, that $2.85 billion figure is greater than what New York, Virginia and Tenessee pledged to Amazon - combined. The three states chosen for Amazon’s offices signed incentive deals combining to roughly $2.4 billion. "In any event, it appears Foxconn is receiving a far more generous subsidy package than Amazon," the Washington Post reported.

Officials in Wisconsin say they had to spend big in order to fend off six other states. The result? They say that Foxconn will build a $10 billion electronics plant in Mount Pleasant that would generate 22,000 indirect jobs and 13,000 factory jobs that will average nearly $54,000 a year in salary.

"13,000 good-paying, family-supporting jobs. That's just the start and up to 22,000 jobs that are either induced or indirect because of it. All of you in this area, this region know, have heard the stories. All the people say, 'I'm going to start to do business over there. I'm going to open a restaurant over there. I'm going to open a hotel over there. I'm going to build a new home over there," Walker said during the incentive package signing ceremony.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Janesville) was also effusive of his praise for what Foxconn could do to transform Wisconsin's economy.

"We're going to look back at this day, at this moment, in the future and see that this was a very important turning point for southeastern Wisconsin," he said.

But that number pales in comparison when Amazon said in mid-November that New York, Virginia and Tennessee will split 55,000 jobs with average salaries of $150,000.

Walker Out, Evers In ... and what it means for Foxconn deal

Fueled by a resurgent Democratic base, Tony Evers defeated Gov. Scott Walker, denying the Republican incumbent a third term in office. Yet Evers unexpected victory over Walker could have a ripple effect on Walker's biggest deal: the approximately $2.85 billion financial incentive package to lure the electronics manufacturer to Racine County.

Evers has implied that Foxconn - and the resulting financial incentive package are here to stay, though he said there could be some wiggle room when it came to negotiations.

According to a Milwaukee Biz Times article, Evers said that he would look at renegotiating parts of the contract with Foxconn with an eye on fortifying the state's position on wages, Milwaukee-area hiring, public transportation and the plant's energy efficiency. He said he would do so by using local transportation projects as negotiating leverage against Foxconn.

"I would really focus on compelling them to be good corporate citizens," he said. "I don't believe they want to be viewed as bad actors," he said.

But shortly afterward, Evers ratcheted up his rhetoric in the Biz Times, indicating a much stronger stance than before.

"That's a lousy investment," Evers said in the Biz Times of Wisconsin's $2.85 billion incentive package that Walker's administration passed in November 2017. "Foxconn has already backtracked on several of its promises and is not being held accountable by Walker. When I'm governor, we'll hold Foxconn's feet to the fire and make sure that Wisconsin is getting the best return on investment possible."

Evers has also gone public with his intention to revise air pollution regulations around the plant. "I've had many scientists look at that approval process and they've found many flaws with that decision made by the Department of Natural Resources,"Evers told the Wisconsin State Journal during the campaign. "So I would take that information and the approval and say, 'How can we get from here to here?'"

Evers has gone on record saying that he favors disbanding the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation - another one of Walker's signature economic development projects.

The Foxconn deal, spearheaded by the GOP and approved in in Sept. 2017, puts the WEDC in the position as chief negotiator in the contract between the State of Wisconsin and Foxconn.

In a Journal Times report published earlier this week, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said Evers is limited to what he can do with the WEDC.

"No matter what Tony Evers said about the WEDC, he can't eliminate it," said Vos to the Journal Times. "He can propose to eliminate it, but the Legislature would have to go along."

In the report, Vos stepped up his own rhetoric against Wisconsin's Democratic Governor-Elect.
"We are not going to allow Tony Evers to come in and screw up the Foxconn package," Vos said. "I will never let that happen. It is too important to our region, it is too important to our state and I feel like we already, in good faith, negotiated and worked on this deal with one of the world's largest corporations, and just because we had an election, doesn't mean Wisconsin is going to break its word."

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