Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz is questioning the Walker administration why it continues to sell the Foxconn plant as a $10 billion project that will create up to 13,000 jobs even after the Taiwanese manufacturer pulled back on its initial plans for the facility.

Hintz, D-Oshkosh, wrote in a letter to WEDC CEO Mark Hogan that the administration’s claims on Foxconn “appear to be inaccurate” now that the company is planning to initially produce a smaller screen than originally envisioned. That, Hintz wrote in a letter shared with WisPolitics.com, means a smaller investment, a lighter footprint in southeastern Wisconsin and no need for a local supply chain.

In the letter, Hintz asked for new numbers on “Foxconn’s investment, tax credits, job estimates, and supply chain management.”

“They’re drunk with pledges that don’t have to do with what is actually happening,” Hintz told WisPolitics.com in advance of a news conference this morning to highlight his concerns.

Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. spokesman Mark Maley stressed the company is still committed to spend $10 billion and create 13,000 jobs. He also pointed out Foxconn would only earn the full state tax credits available under the package put together by the Walker administration if it invests at least $9 billion and creates and maintains 13,000 jobs.

“The bottom line is that the company’s commitment to meeting its job creation and capital investment requirements has not changed since the day the contract was signed,” he said. “And the State of Wisconsin will continue to protect the taxpayers’ investment by ensuring the company meets its contractual obligations.”

The state’s contract with the company says it will build a factory that creates display panels from large sheets of thin glass, called a Generation 10.5 LCD panel. But the company acknowledged earlier this summer it will first build a plant producing smaller screens, known as Generation 6. It also said it planned to build a larger factory in a second phase.

Hintz said the state’s contract with Foxconn is ambiguous enough that he doesn’t believe the company is violating it by starting with the smaller plant. But he had a series of questions for the Walker administration about its approach to the project, particularly after an open records request his office filed with the administration produced a number of redacted documents.

One of the documents his office received was an Ernst & Young report that compared the impact of a Generation 6 plant vs. a Generation 10.5 facility. The ranges for jobs created — both directly, indirectly and through employee spending — were about 41 percent smaller for the Generation 6 plant.

“It would seem that just about every piece of talking point that they’re using is not based on anything that’s actually happening,” he said.

Maley said the WEDC contract includes job creation benchmarks the company has to meet to receive credits and noted there are clawback provisions if it falls short. He said the state expects Foxconn’s plans for the campus to change over the next three to four years.

“As technology changes, we believe Foxconn, which holds 80,000 patents worldwide, will continue to make businesses decisions to ensure its future is as successful as its past,” Maley said.

See the letter to Hogan:

https://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/180821WEDC.pdf

See the Ernst & Young document:

https://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/180821EY.pdf

See today’s PM Update for coverage of this morning’s Dem news conference.