GOP Legislators Defend Foxconn
They offer positive slant to Foxconn executive expressing doubt about 13,000 jobs.
Foxconn’s North American. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Republican state lawmakers defended Foxconn Technology Group on Thursday amid mixed signals from the manufacturing company about how many jobs it will create in Wisconsin.
Foxconn has said for months that it remains committed to creating up to 13,000 jobs in the state, despite confirmed plans to change what it manufactures at its southeastern Wisconsin plant.
However, a tweet from Alan Yeung, director of U.S. Strategic Initiatives for Foxconn, has some questioning that commitment.
Calm down. Probably fake news 😂 Who has the crystal ball 🔮 to predict if 13,000 jobs will be created by the year 2032?
Esp in April ‘19 🤔 🤗😀😎 https://t.co/P94H9V6Kw6— Alan S. Yeung (@alansyeung) April 25, 2019
The state’s contract with Foxconn expires in 2032.
The company did not immediately return a request for comment about Yeung’s tweet.
Speaking with reporters at a WisPolitics event in Madison, Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, defended the tweet as benign.
“He’s saying that a lot can happen between now and 2032 — which, we know that to be true,” Nygren said.
Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, who co-chairs the state Legislature’s budget committee with Nygren, said taxpayers shouldn’t be concerned about Foxconn’s commitment.
“I don’t see Foxconn totally failing,” Darling said. “That’s not their MO.”
“I know there’s been a lot of political talk about it, but it has be a ‘pay as you grow’ — they don’t get paid unless they grow jobs,” she said.
Yeung’s tweet came as leadership at Foxconn appears to be in flux. The company’s CEO, Terry Gou, announced last week that he will run for the president of Taiwan, spurring more headlines about the company and his personal life.
Gov. Tony Evers has said the state should re-evaluate its contract with Foxconn, in light of the changes to its planned product line in Wisconsin. He has also said he doesn’t believe Gou’s budding political career will affect the state’s relationship with the company.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, has said lawmakers will not approve any major changes to the state’s $4 billion incentive package for the tech giant.
Listen to the WPR report here.
GOP Lawmakers Defend Foxconn Amid Mixed Signals About Job Creation 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
Why does the GOP never mention all the money paid up front by the Village of Mount Pleasant, Racine County, Racine Water Utility, the DOT, and We Energies ratepayers for the Foxconn project? That’s money that’s spent now, and won’t get paid back if Foxconn bails. Plus all the residents evicted for the site – will they be given their property back if Foxconn doesn’t need it, or even allowed to buy it for what they sold it for?
Wisconsin’s Foxconn Folly…the “eighth wonder of the world.” I wonder why Scott Walker and the Republicans were so willing to give the most government welfare to a company that is well known for not delivering. Foxconn has already changed their plans, and they will never deliver 13,000 family supporting jobs for semi-skilled workers. Meanwhile, Mount Pleasant is going deeper in debt to prepare for a BIG foot-print factory that will never be built.