I’m glad to see some urgency on the part of the Assembly.
Assembly lawmakers on Monday will cast the first votes on a package of incentives designed to convince Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn to build its first U.S. plant in Wisconsin.
Lawmakers on the Assembly Committee on Jobs and the Economy will vote Monday afternoon to advance Gov. Scott Walker’s bill that provides Foxconn with nearly $3 billion in tax credits, exempt the company from a number of environmental regulations and spend $20 million in state funds on job training to ensure the state’s workforce is prepared. The full Assembly is scheduled to vote on the package Thursday.
But a leader of the state Senate said Monday the Assembly’s action this week is “largely irrelevant” and that changes recently made to the bill by Assembly Republicans on Friday may not have the support from Walker or Senate Republicans.
Senate President Roger Roth, R-Appleton, told conservative talk radio show host Jerry Bader on Monday that the speed at which the Assembly has pushed the Foxconn bill has the Senate on the outside looking in.
It worries me that the Republicans running state government can’t seem to get their acts together on this. Why is it so difficult to get in a joint committee, hash out the details, and get this thing done? The answer is that it isn’t difficult – if they wanted to do so. Several Republican leaders appear to be using the Foxconn package as a political football for other agendas. In doing so, they risk fumbling it after Walker got it to the goal line. (yes, I’m ready for some football)
Senate better get off its duff.