Here & Now

Darling: Foxconn Will Put "Wisconsin on the Map" For Tech

Frederica Freyberg:

First, we go to Milwaukee to talk with Joint Finance Co-Chair Republican Senator Alberta Darling. Thanks very much for being here.

Alberta Darling:

Thank you for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

So next week the Joint Finance Committee is expected to take up this Foxconn bill as we’ve just said. But as a member of the Senate, which one do you want to work from, the version passed out of the Assembly or the original?

Alberta Darling:

I think we should probably work off the one that just passed the Assembly, but we still have the option to start clean with the Senate version. But I would imagine we’d start with the Assembly because they did amend the bill.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what are you hoping to learn from the public hearing on the bill that will precede the Finance Committee vote?

Alberta Darling:

I think that we are going to hear from people who actually live in the area who can most directly benefit from this $10 billion investment by Foxconn what they really think about it. From my point of view, it represents a landmark opportunity for Wisconsin to be put on the map as a tech manufacturing state. We were chosen over several states that were also very competitive. But because of all of the reforms we did and because we’ve gone from 41st to the top ten in terms of business climates we were chosen because we’ve gone through a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get our house in order in Wisconsin and to become a business-friendly state and a business-friendly environment.

Frederica Freyberg:

Still, what issues or concerns, if any, might you have in connection with the bill?

Alberta Darling:

Well, the biggest concern is we have to make sure that it’s going to be a good deal for our taxpayers. And in my opinion it is because there are two parts of this bill. One is a capital investment. It’s a $3 billion investment over all. Half of it probably goes to capital projects and half goes to jobs. But the important part of this is, it’s performance-driven. Nothing will be handed out. No money will be transferred unless there are jobs created. For the capital you could say, well, that isn’t directly tied to jobs. But it is because it’s the building of the facility which will take a lot of workers, a lot of construction and will be one of the bigger construction projects in our state. It’s the size of 11 Lambeau Fields. So in my opinion there are safeguards for the taxpayer because it’s a performance-based tax credit. If they get a job that’s worth at least $30,000, they will get the tax credit. So for me it’s a tremendous opportunity. And I've been hearing from people in my district that they see it the same way. Not everybody. Of course there are people who are concerned about other issues. But let’s say what if we passed it up? We would be giving up the ability to be recognized around the country as a high-tech manufacturing state. And the ripple effects, the Greater Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce said there will be $78 billion of spin-off revenue to the state over the next 15 years. And on top of that, there will be a ripple effect as well. I’ve heard that Sharp, the technology company, is talking to other community leaders in that area to see if they can possibly come to our state. And that’s very exciting. I’ve heard that there are many Chinese companies, that kind of are groupies with Foxconn that want to be a part of the action. So we are going to get a lot of interest, a lot of jobs and a lot of economic development.

Frederica Freyberg:

So you —

Alberta Darling:

I know that people like in housing are saying how are we going to relocate a lot of these people and how are we going to have room to house a lot of the new labor that we’re going to have? And that’s going to be another boon to our economy.

Frederica Freyberg:

So just super quickly on the Foxconn deal, you don’t see that you might have any amendments in Joint Finance that would change it?

Alberta Darling:

I can’t say that right now because the Assembly put in several amendments.

Frederica Freyberg:

Right.

Alberta Darling:

I don’t anticipate that there are going to be a lot of changes, but there could be. I assume that the Democrats are going to put forward amendments. We’re very interested in working with them. I hope that our vote in Finance is a bipartisan vote. And I hope that the vote in the Senate is a bipartisan vote. I think it’s going to be very hard for Senator Wirch not to vote for this bill because of the acceptance in the Assembly in his area.

Frederica Freyberg:

Let me ask you very quickly because unfortunately we have less than a half a minute left. You’ve still got the budget out there to finish.

Alberta Darling:

Yes.

Frederica Freyberg:

Would you drop the Foxconn bill kind of into the budget and pass them together, or what’s that going to look like?

Alberta Darling:

No. We’re not going to have a separate Foxconn component to the budget. That will be a separate bill. That we have agreed to. We are looking at meeting in Finance on Thursday of this coming week to take up — start to take up the rest of the items that we have in our docket and we’ve been negotiating. And I think the biggest sticking points were what were transportation and education. So you’ll be seeing a lot of progress on all those issues and we will get the bill out by the middle of June to the third week of June to make the deadline of the 28th for Foxconn.

Frederica Freyberg:

September.

Alberta Darling:

We have to get a budget done. Yeah. We need to let the schools know what their investment can be. So we’d like to get that out by the August 28. So they’ll know what they have to deal with in their budgets.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right.

Alberta Darling:

We meet in Finance on the 28th.

Frederica Freyberg:

Senator Alberta Darling, thanks for joining us. You have a lot of work ahead.

Alberta Darling:

You bet. Thank you. We do, but it’s all good stuff.