>> Republicans at the capitol have different ideas on how to
address the special session bill.
Senate Republicans want to pass the stalled state budget first
and deal with the Foxconn bill in the Joint Finance Committee.
Assembly Republicans decided to hold a public hearing
before the Assembly Jobs and Economy Committee,
which is chaired by Representative Adam Neylon
who joins us now from Milwaukee.
Thanks for being here.
>> My pleasure.
>> This bill would provide Foxconn with $3 billion in
taxpayer money and yet they only sent a statement
to be read at the hearing.
Isn't it a little concerning they weren't there to answer
questions about this proposal?
>> No, it wasn't concerning at all.
I think we covered almost every single issue
you can cover on this bill.
It was a very lively, good discussion.
I think it was a productive discussion.
I think that now that we've had that first hearing,
I would imagine at some point Foxconn will be available
and will be in Wisconsin to discuss this specific
piece of legislation.
But this is a long process.
And this is only the first step.
You know, I wouldn't make anything of it at this point.
>> There were a lot of questions about protections
for workers and taxpayers making sure
Foxconn lives up to their promises.
Do you think stronger language needs to be written
into the bill in that regard?
Are you open to amendments?
>> I'm absolutely open to amendments.
I think there are ways we can improve
this piece of legislation.
To start, I think it is actually very good legislation.
And for where we are in the process, I'm very happy.
But I think there are certain things specifically targeted
at making sure this investment best benefits
the people of Wisconsin.
Some sort of Wisconsin-first provision to make sure if all
things equal, Wisconsin vendors and Wisconsin workers are the
ones seeing these benefits flow to them.
>> Because of the Manufacturing and Ag Tax credit,
Foxconn's corporate tax rate eventually will be .
4%.
Most of the $3 billion in incentives will be straight cash
paid from the state to Foxconn.
Do you consider that corporate welfare
as others are calling it?
>> I believe that it is an incentive that's necessary
to bring one of the top manufacturers in the world into
a market that can support it.
And we can thrive.
And it's too good an opportunity to pass up.
I wouldn't label it as corporate welfare.
What I would say is that it's targeted economic development
Taking advantage of resources and our strengths as a state,
such as manufacturing, the strength of our work force,
our skilled labor force.
Taking advantage of these strengths and investing
in our future.
>> Now the conservative group Americans for Prosperity
released a statement yesterday opposing the deal,
saying they can't endorse the tax credits in this package.
Are they misguided in what they are looking at?
>> No, they've long said they don't believe in using these
types of tax credits for economic development.
That's always been their position.
I tend to disagree with them.
I think economic development should be done
in a targeted beneficial way.
And I think when you have an opportunity to bring in jobs
to Wisconsin, thousands of jobs, millions of dollars in
construction, you have to take advantage of that opportunity.
The people of Wisconsin deserve it.
When you knock on doors when you go to communities throughout
Wisconsin people want jobs.
People want economic development.
They want opportunities for them and their families.
It's up to us to seize this opportunity so we can provide
them with things like jobs, opportunity,
more skilled workers into our work force.
This is going to bring -- I heard a good line the other day
-- this is going to be a brain gain, not a brain drain.
We've been losing workers for years.
They're going to other states.
Here's an opportunity to bring workers into Wisconsin
instead of losing them on the other end.
>> The last time Wisconsin did some of these major packages it
was back with Mercury Marine around 2010 and it wasn't long
after that Harley-Davidson and some other manufacturers came
looking for some of those same incentives.
Do you imagine something like that happening again?
Are other large manufacturers either in the state or looking
to come in are going to ask for something on this scale?
>> Of course.
I believe of course people going to ask for it.
And those conversations are already taking place.
My phone's been ringing literally non-stop since the
public hearing was scheduled in the jobs and the economy.
And a lot of people are already business owners or companies in
Wisconsin that are saying yeah, this would be great
but what about this benefit for us?
Why can't we change the climate to benefit all?
And I think these are worthy discussions.
And I'm willing to participate in them moving forward to see
what more we could do to help the people of Wisconsin
that are already here and already creating jobs
and already working and providing for their families.
I think these are good discussions.
And I think we should continue to have them.
But I will point out in this legislation,
there are things like the enterprise zone
that is expanded
five more zones than WEDC can designate for different types
of benefits and incentives for growth in Wisconsin and hiring
new employees that could be provided to any company
in Wisconsin that applies through WEDC.
What we like to do is look for clusters and zones in areas
of opportunity to develop in the future.
And those aren't going to Foxconn,
but they will be going to companies in
Wisconsin to help them grow here.
>> Now, this bill calls for expedited environmental
permitting and there's no environmental impact statement.
Do you think we are going to be missing out on some of the
potential environmental dangers ahead of time before this gets
put through?
>> That's a good question.
I think that-- I want to establish first and foremost
Foxconn will still have to comply to the Clear Air act,
Clean Water Act.
They'll still have to go by all the waste removal standards.
They're not exempt from the law.
What we are doing is expediting and streamlining
the process at the beginning when you are applying
for these permits and your application.
Because quite frankly a project of this scale could be decades
before it would be approved through traditional ways.
So I think if we want to actually see Foxconn invest
in Wisconsin, this is an area we have to be flexible in.
However, I also want to point out this does not mean they are
exempt from DNR oversight.
DNR is still able to participate in the construction process.
We are still able to have oversight to make sure that
environmental protections are taking place.
So, you know, while -- we should expedite this process or it
could take decades to actually get implemented,
I think there are protections in place.
>> All right. We will have to leave it there.
Thank you for your time.
Representative Adam Neylon from Pewaukee.
>> Thank you. Thanks for the invitation.
I appreciate it.