Scotty wants Dems to bail out Kimberly-Clark? JUST SAY NO

The desperation of Scott Walker grows by the day, as he clearly continues to trail in the polls, with less than 8 weeks before election. So much so that Walker went public this week with a plea to put the State Senate back into session to use tax dollars to bail out a major Wisconsin manufacturer.

The only plan that can save jobs at Kimberly-Clark is AB 963 which was approved by the Assembly. We need support from both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate to save these good-paying Wisconsin jobs. https://t.co/NGjZ2xvPbI

— Governor Walker (@GovWalker) September 13, 2018

Walker even followed it up this afternoon with a letter saying “PLEEEEASE VISIT THE KIMBERLY-CLARK PLANT!” and tried to justify the incentives package. This comes after Kimberly-Clark gave a September 30 deadline to have the Senate agree to the Assembly bill, in order to keep a 500-worker plant open near Appleton (a second plant will that employs 110 will be closed regardless). It’s almost like the statements of Walker and K-C were coordinated or something....

This would be the same package that Foxconn received – tax dollars paying back 17% of salaries, and 15% payback of capital investments. The cost was estimated at $7 million to $8 million a year if all 600 jobs would be kept, so likely $6 to $7 mil a year now. Over the course of 15 years, it means the total cost would run somewhere around $100 million.

But Democratic Senate Leader Jennifer Shilling wasn’t taking the bait, and said that it was Walker’s job to convince his fellow Republicans to support Foxconn 2. Republican Senate Leader Scott Fitzgerald responded by saying Shilling should see if there are other Dems who might sign off on the deal.

After Shilling knocked the guv’s call this morning, Fitzgerald issued a statement urging her to bring back her caucus on the legislation.

“Along with the governor’s efforts to build support for the proposal, I am continuing to work on bringing the votes together within the Republican caucus,” he said.

[Shilling] fired back in a statement, “Senators Fitzgerald and Roth seem to have forgotten that they are still in the majority and are trying to pass the blame because of their inability to get this done. They have already killed this bill once and it doesn’t look like their Republican majority is any closer to getting a deal done this time around.”

Right on, Jen. Why should the Dems bail out the K-C bailout, especially right before an election? Make the GOPs either own the bailout, which will likely be hated across the state even more than Foxconn is, or let it die (which is better for 99% of the state). But don’t be a dupe that allows this piece of trash to go through after Fitzgerald shot down popular, bipartisan bills like closing the “dark store” Loophole.

Let’s also remind you that Kimberly-Clark gets a ton of tax breaks already. Recall that the corporation said the GOP’s Tax Scam from DC gave them enough financial cushion to “restructure”, which included closing the two plants in the Fox Valley.

In addition, the good folks at One Wisconsin Now informed us just how much (little) Kimberly Clark has paid in state taxes since the “Big Giveaway” Manufacturing and Agriculture tax credit began in 2013.

Kimberly-Clark’s Wisconsin net tax the last five years. pic.twitter.com/Mkd2fUQwUV

— One Wisconsin Now (@onewisconsinnow) September 13, 2018

Also add in the “flexibilities” that Walker and other WisGOP hacks promised would be part of Wisconsin becoming a right-to-work (for less) state in 2015, and yet it’s still not enough for Kimberly-Clark. Why would we bail out this company when they can’t keep their factories open despite all of these advantages?

OK, you're concerned about the people losing their jobs? Why don’t we put together a package that says all of the 610 workers that lose their jobs are eligible for $1,000 a week for the next year (or full salary, whichever is less) – basically a state severance. That would give plenty of time for those individuals to land on their feet with little change in their quality of life. Maximum cost for 1 year? $31.7 million, less than 1/3 of what the total K-C bailout would cost.

If your concern is the higher property taxes that might come to other residents of Fox Crossing now that a giant amount of their tax base has gone away? Then do what we just did in the last state budget for the former Village of Brokaw, which lost a mill a few years ago, and got a provision in this year’s budget where the state sends $583,000 a year in additional aid payments to soften the blow.

This would also buy time for local governments and other organizations to attract companies that do want to stay in the Fox Valley, and possibly in a more sustainable manufacturing model. This is similar to what we saw at the Appleton Coated mill, which went into receivership in December 2017, but now has some of its machines back online with up to 300 jobs restored.

If Tony Evers is smart, he will loudly and openly say “HELL NO” on the Kimberly-Clark bailout, and encourage all other Democrats to do the same. Not only do we lack the funds to bail out Kimberly-Clark, but it’s economically stupid to do so, and there are many other fiscally responsible ways to handle the disruptions of possible job losses at Kimberly-Clark than in giving in to their extortion and leave taxpayers holding the bag.