Saturday, October 3, 2015

Wisconsin's Corporate Welfare

In keeping with the theme of corporate giveaways (see the previous post), there has been a lot in the Wisconsin media lately regarding company lay offs, closings and downsizings.

Jobs Lacking After State Subsidy Of Kohl's
Joy Global To Temporarily Close Milwaukee Department, Lay Off 113 Workers
Caterpillar Plans To Cut Thousands Of Jobs As Key Markets Slow

Perplexingly, Wisconsin has also been lavishing welfare on some of these same companies as they lay off employees or fail to create the promised jobs.

Caterpillar (and former Bucyrus) has received $40 million in state and local awards (subsidies) in Wisconsin.

Kohl's has received at least $87.5 million in subsidies from Wisconsin.

Mercury Marine received $123 million. Northwestern Mutual Life $50 million. Quad Graphics $46 million. Oshkosh Corporation $36 million. Uline $18.6 million.

According to a New York Times analysis, Wisconsin spends $1.53 billion per year on subsidies.

As Badger Democracy wrote:
In total corporate incentives, Wisconsin ranks 14th overall in the nation...Of the 903 reported corporate grants listed in the Times report, 300 (nearly one-third) have come in 2011-2012 alone, during the Walker administration, primarily through the WEDC “Enterprise Zone Jobs Tax Credit.” In fact, seven of the top ten grant awards totaling over $270 million are 2011 or 2012 grants.
But we're broke, remember?

For More Information:
Discover Where Corporations are Getting Taxpayer Assistance Across the United States

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