Wisconsin Senate approves $3 billion for Foxconn
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Senate approved nearly $3 billion in cash payments for Foxconn Technology Group on Tuesday, while also giving the Taiwanese company a slightly less expedited path to the state Supreme Court for certain legal challenges related to a planned massive electronics manufacturing factory.
Foxconn plans to invest up to $10 billion to build a flat-screen production factory in Wisconsin that would initially employ 3,000 but the company said could grow to 13,000. The proposed subsidy — which now heads to the state Assembly for a final vote Thursday — would be the largest ever from a U.S. state to a foreign company and 10 times bigger than anything Wisconsin has extended to a private business.
The Republican-controlled Senate discounted Democratic concerns that there weren’t enough protections for taxpayers under the unprecedented incentive package. It would take 25 years for taxpayers to see a return on the investment, the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau said.
“Taxpayers know it’s going to cost them $3 billion but they have no idea what they’re buying,” said Sen. Jon Erpenbach, a Democrat from Middleton, during debate. “There are no guarantees in this legislation and we don’t even know what we’re buying.”