Madison Mayor Paul Soglin
Just weeks after suggesting a site in his city to the company, Madison Mayor Paul Soglin is speaking out against a proposed incentive package for Foxconn.
In a statement released Wednesday, Soglin called the bill being considered by lawmakers a “terrible deal that will bankrupt the state and leave our kids holding the bill.”
The state Assembly is currently scheduled to vote on the bill Thursday.
The mayor compared the proposal, which includes $3 billion in tax credits for the $10 billion factory the company wants to build in the state, to buying Green Bay Packer Super Bowl tickets for $100 million. While many would want to go, he argues most would pass. “The Foxconn deal is an overpayment, a rip-off, of that magnitude,” he argued.
Soglin recently suggested Foxconn should look at the former Oscar Mayer plant in Madison as a location for a second facility it may be considering in the state.
He also praised Democratic state Representative Dana Wachs (D-Eau Claire), who is running for governor, for publicly opposing the Foxconn deal. Soglin has previously indicated he may also consider a run for governor in 2018.