If Foxconn deal has changed, taxpayers deserve to know

It is not only the biggest public subsidy to a private employer in Wisconsin history, it is the biggest in U.S. history as well. Wisconsin taxpayers are on the hook for at least $4.5 billion in subsidies to help Foxconn get its new manufacturing facility built in Southeast Wisconsin. In return the company says it will spend $10 billion, and hire 13,000 people. But it seems that taxpayers aren’t exactly getting what they were promised. We first heard about changes to Foxconn’s plans this summer, when reports surfaced that the company was going to build a smaller plant than what is outlined in the state contract. They denied those report, but later admitted the plant they are building won’t be as big as we were told, and it won’t even make the huge flat screen. Instead, the plant will be smaller, and workers will be making smaller screens. But state and local contracts still define the project based on Foxconn’s initial description of the plant. That should sound some alarms. Governor Walker, who spearheaded and cheerleaded for this deal, should get assurances from the company that its investment and job totals will still match initial projections. And if they aren’t then the state contract should be changed, and the public investment scaled back. Taxpayers should be provided some assurance of exactly what they can expect to get for their money.