Republican Agenda Puts Corporate Welfare Package for Taiwanese Company Ahead of our Public Schools
Hesselbein votes against boondoggle proposal that will hamstring state budgets for years to come
Madison – Today, Republicans in the State Assembly convened a special floor session to pass a $3 billion corporate welfare package for a foreign company. As noted by Politifact Wisconsin, the package will be “the largest ever subsidy provided by a state to a foreign company,” and per the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, will put taxpayers on the hook with no return on their investment for at least 25 years.
By bringing the bill to the floor of the State Assembly less than a month after introduction, Republican legislators chose to pass a corporate welfare package that is projected to send billions of tax dollars to the Taiwanese company before passing a 2017-19 state budget which would fund the state’s schools, infrastructure projects, and other critical services.
Assistant Assembly Democratic Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) voted against the unprecedented corporate welfare package and released the following statement after all Democratic amendments were voted down by the Republican majority:
“As a Democrat, and representative of several prominent Wisconsin businesses that help drive our state’s economy, I support creating economic opportunity for hardworking Wisconsin families. After reviewing the corporate welfare proposal that was introduced by Governor Walker less than a month ago that will send billions of tax dollars to a Taiwanese company with a checkered history of delivering on job promises, I could not support the Foxconn proposal. My concerns with how this will affect Wisconsin’s ability to fund other state priorities for decades to come were compounded by the far-reaching environmental rollbacks included in the bill and the fact that we have not completed a state budget to fund our biggest priorities.
“It became clear that this bill was ushered through the legislative process with no guarantee that Wisconsin taxpayer money will benefit Wisconsin workers and contractors. We should have been far more deliberative and let the Joint Finance Committee review the proposal to get the best deal possible for taxpayers in every corner of the state. It’s my fear that too many Wisconsinites will get a raw deal out of this corporate giveaway.”
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
More about the Foxconn Facility
- Foxconn Will Get State Subsidy For 2022 - Joe Schulz - Dec 11th, 2023
- Mount Pleasant Approves Microsoft Deal on Foxconn Land - Evan Casey - Nov 28th, 2023
- Mount Pleasant Deal With Microsoft Has No Public Subsidies - Evan Casey - Nov 14th, 2023
- Microsoft, State Announce Massive Data Center Expansion, Land Purchase - Joe Schulz - Nov 11th, 2023
- Gov. Evers Announces Microsoft Makes Major Investment in Wisconsin - Gov. Tony Evers - Nov 10th, 2023
- State Can’t Regulate We Energies $100 Million Project for Microsoft - Joe Schulz - Sep 20th, 2023
- Foxconn Selling Green Bay, Eau Claire ‘Centers’ - Joe Schulz - Aug 16th, 2023
- Murphy’s Law: Foxconn Deal Is Still Costing Taxpayers - Bruce Murphy - Jul 6th, 2023
- Microsoft Will Pay $50 Million For Mount Pleasant Data Center Site - Evan Casey - Apr 20th, 2023
- Microsoft Data Center Proposed for Foxconn Land - Evan Casey - Mar 29th, 2023
Read more about Foxconn Facility here
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