State lawmakers talk money when it comes to Foxconn Tuesday afternoon. Governor Scott Walker made a stop in Green Bay for the second time in less than a week, discussing the benefits for the state.
"Nearly $4 are returned of value to the state for every dollar the state puts in the incentive package for Foxconn,” the Governor said.
The visit comes as the joint finance committee met near one of the proposed sites, discussing the $3 billion incentive package, the largest in state history. Governor Walker saID the key to Foxconn's success is building a supply chain in Northeast Wisconsin, but critics fear those jobs could go someplace else.
"They're economic experts who think this is the worst economic development deal in American history,” said Robert Kraig with Citizen action of Wisconsin.
The grassroots activist group held an event in Appleton during the hearing. It says most of the jobs created by Foxconn could end up going to people who live in Illinois.
"If you look at what you could do with $3 billion dollars, if you invest it in education, if you invested it in healthcare, if you invested it in making a clean energy transition, it would create a lot more jobs,” Kraig said.
Governor Walker says this deal was too good to pass up.
"It is interesting to me that some of the people that have long been critics about talking for the need of more family supporting jobs are now against family supporting Foxconn jobs,” he said.
"So there's no question we need to invest heavily in job creation, creating family supporting jobs in northeast Wisconsin, across Wisconsin, this is the wrong way to do it,” Kraig said.
The governor says creating a supply chain for Foxconn will help people in other industries get jobs. The state assembly passed the incentive plan last week, now it heads to the state senate. The governor says he feels confident that it will pass, but expects an agreement to take longer in the senate.
