Wisconsin governor signs $3 billion Foxconn bill into law (UPDATE)

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By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker signed a $3 billion incentive plan on Monday meant to get the Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn Technology Group to build a flat-screen manufacturing plant in southeastern Wisconsin.

Walker signed the bill afternoon during a packed ceremony at a technical college in Sturtevant in Racine County, the most likely location for the plant.

The bill provides nearly $3 billion in cash to Foxconn if it invests $10 billion in its flat-screen factory and employs 13,000 people. It extends $150 million in sales tax exemptions on construction materials and allows the company to build in wetlands and waterways.

The package also gives the conservative-leaning state Supreme Court the option to take up appeals of circuit court decisions related to the Foxconn project directly rather than having them heard by an intermediate appellate court.

The governor told WTMJ-AM radio that with the bill signed into law, Foxconn will most likely announce the site of the giant factory within a couple of weeks. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Walker’s job-creation agency, will put the finishing touches a contract with electronics manufacturer  by the beginning of October. Groundbreaking is expected to take place this spring, the governor said. Foxconn hopes to open the plant’s doors in 2020, he said.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled that today we’ll be signing legislation that will open the door for literally tens of thousands of jobs in Wisconsin,” said Walker. “It’s a huge win, not just for the people in southeastern Wisconsin but people across the state.”

Walker and supporters are heralding the deal as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make the state a hub for the high-tech electronics industry. Foxconn is the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics and is best known for making iPhones.

Opponents have decried the deal as a giveaway to Foxconn, saying it hasn’t provided enough guarantees to protect taxpayers in case workers are laid off or Foxconn leaves the state. An analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau found it will take at least 25 years for Wisconsin taxpayers to break even on the incentives.

Walker told WTMJ-AM that he’s confident the incentives package is constitutional.