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Capitol Notes: Why Did WEDC Hesitate on Foxconn Deal?

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The WEDC Board was supposed to sign off on the Foxconn deal last week, but delayed action instead

Gov. Scott Walker had been expecting Foxconn officials to sign a deal with the state any day now.  The Taiwanese company plans to build a huge LCD screen manufacturing plant in southeastern Wisconsin, with the help of $3 billion in state incentives.  But late last week, the board that will oversee the deal, delayed voting on it.

Ross says it's a bit of a mystery as to why the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation board postponed signing off on the deal.  He says he doesn't know if something is wrong, or if board members need more time to negotiate final details of the contract.  Either way, the Board doesn't seem too worried about it, even though Walker had said Foxconn officials would be in Wisconsin this week to sign a contract and to announce the location of the plant.

On another note, there was a dustup last week between Gov. Walker and Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.  Apparently, Vos didn't like some of the vetoes to the budget Walker made, so he texted the governor, telling him "I won't forget this," and indicated he was disappointed in the way Walker had treated him with these maneuvers.  How much weight do we place on flareups like this?

Ross says there have been tensions among Republicans who control the state Legislature for a while, and doesn't find these tiffs unusual.  He says "familiarity breeds contempt" and the GOP has been in charge for so long, that arguments amongst the ranks are bound to start leaking out.  

Marti was a reporter with WUWM from 1999 to 2021.