Evers Wants to Renegotiate Foxconn Deal
Says 13,000 jobs "unrealistic," project is now much smaller, taxpayers must be protected.
Gov. Tony Evers. Photo by Emily Hamer/Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism.
Gov. Tony Evers said Wednesday that Wisconsin’s contract with manufacturing giant Foxconn Technology Group might need to be renegotiated.
Evers said it’s “unrealistic” to expect the company will still create a promised 13,000 jobs in the state in light of reports that it plans to change the products it manufactures at its planned southeastern Wisconsin plant.
“I think at this point in time that would be an unrealistic expectation, when they’re downsizing the footprint of what they’re doing,” he said.
Foxconn confirmed in February that it will build smaller-screen televisions at the plant. It was initially expected to manufacture large-panel displays.
Evers said the changes mean Wisconsin’s $4 billion deal with the company should be re-evaluated.
Republican leaders were quick to push back on the governor’s comments.
“This completes the original narrative that the governor has wanted to undermine the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation from day one,” said state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, in a prepared statement. “If the state is willing to renege on its commitment to Foxconn and open up a contract without agreement by both parties, then what guarantee can Wisconsin make to any other company that wants to expand here?”
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, called the existing contract “ironclad” and remained optimistic on job numbers, saying, “As Foxconn works to create 13,000 jobs in Wisconsin, I’m open to hearing if any flexibility is needed to achieve that goal, which I hope is the intent of Governor Evers.”
The governor’s comments came shortly after reports that Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou plans to run for president of Taiwan. Evers said he doesn’t expect Gou’s potential candidacy to affect the company’s work in Wisconsin.
Listen to the WPR report here.
Evers: Foxconn Contract Should Be Renegotiated, 13K Jobs ‘Unrealistic’ was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
More about the Foxconn Facility
- Mount Pleasant, Racine in Legal Battle Over Water After Foxconn Failure - Evan Casey - Sep 18th, 2024
- Biden Hails ‘Transformative’ Microsoft Project in Mount Pleasant - Sophie Bolich - May 8th, 2024
- Microsoft’s Wisconsin Data Center Now A $3.3 Billion Project - Jeramey Jannene - May 8th, 2024
- We Energies Will Spend $335 Million on Microsoft Development - Evan Casey - Mar 6th, 2024
- 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
Read more about Foxconn Facility here
Who do Vos and Fitzgerald think they work for? From their comments, it doesn’t appear to be the taxpayers of Wisconsin.
Foxconn has gone back on it’s initial promise time and again. Wisconsin taxpayers are on the hook for $4 billion. The position of any good steward of the taxpayers’ money should be to sit down with Foxconn, review and renegotiate the deal. Any corporation that uses taxpayer dollars in ways that don’t benefit the people of Wisconsin should have their deals renegotiated.
This business of corporate welfare has to come to an end.