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Monday, Jul 20 2015

Walker's WEDC Woes Just Won't Go Away

Jul 20, 2015

Scott Walker’s taxpayer backed slush-fund — WEDC — had a board meeting today. As you may have predicted, it raised more questions than answers about the shady organization that has squandered millions of dollars on the pet projects of Walker’s political donors and companies that outsourced Wisconsin jobs. Almost three months has passed since it was reported that WEDC was providing tax credits to Eaton Corporation, a company that was moving jobs to Mexico. But despite promises from Walker that WEDC would address the controversy, it has done anything but.

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BACKGROUND:

WEDC Said They Will Review The Tax Credits Awarded To Eaton Corporation. According to Milwaukee Business Journal, “Officials with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. will review $369,307 in tax credits awarded to the Eaton Corp. after the company followed through on plans to move 93 jobs from Watertown to Mexico, a WEDC spokesman said Tuesday.” [Milwaukee Business Journal, 4/28/15]

Governor Walker Instructed The WEDC To Look Into The Eaton Corporation Deal To See If There Is An Immediate Remedy, But They Have Not Concluded If They Can Take Action. According to WKOW 27, “Gov. Walker said he has instructed WEDC staff to look into the deal they struck with Eaton to see if there is an immediate remedy. ‘We’re not necessarily concluding that we can’t take action even under the current arrangements. We’re still trying to look through what other options we might have,’ said Gov. Walker.” [WKOW 27, 4/30/15]

June 2015: WEDC “Has Yet To Claw Back Money” From Eaton Corporation, After They Outsourced Jobs.  According to WKOW 27, “Despite instructions from Gov. Scott Walker to seek an ‘immediate remedy’ to recover state money given to a company that is outsourcing state jobs to Mexico for the second time in three years, officials with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) told 27 News late Friday that there is ‘nothing to report at this time’ on those efforts. Gov. Walker made those comments after a WEDC board meeting in late April, just three days after 27 News broke a story that the Eaton Corporation is outsourcing 93 jobs from its Watertown manufacturing facility to its plant in Tijuana, Mexico. Eaton plans to lay those workers off throughout the year with all of the positions being transferred to Mexico by December 31.[…] But on Friday, WEDC Spokesperson Mark Maley made it clear that attempts to claw back some of the $370,000 in tax credits the agency has awarded Eaton Corp. since 2012 have been unsuccessful thus far. ” [WKOW 27, 6/15/15]


Published: Jul 20, 2015

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