Last night, I
joined both my Republican and Democratic colleagues in Assembly
in a bipartisan vote to adopt the Foxconn bill. After
extensive deliberation on your comments, public testimony,
expert analysis, and public official recommendations, I am
confident that we examined this legislation with all due
diligence. I'm grateful for all the questions, concerns, and
messages of support from constituents like you, which helped me
carefully consider the Foxconn proposal and recommend amendments
to the bill. After many of my
suggestions and the suggestions of my Democratic colleagues
across the aisle were amended into the bill I determined that this is an
opportunity Wisconsin is wise to secure.
High-tech screens aren’t
going away, and they will certainly evolve with time. At
Waukesha County Technical College I experienced Foxconn hologram
technology firsthand. Foxconn is an innovator and one of the
largest businesses in the world. They won’t let a ten billion
dollar investment in our state become obsolete as technology
naturally advances.
Colleges across Wisconsin are
already cooperating to equip students for these careers. As
chair of the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities,
I’ve personally heard from enthusiastic, supportive leaders at
UW System and Wisconsin Technical College System campuses and
they are ready to create more engineers, managers, computer
scientists, and skilled workers in the emerging field of
mechatronics. Partnerships between campuses like UW–Fox Valley
and UW–Platteville or Gateway Tech and UW–Milwaukee will ensure
that students will have the skills needed for careers at an
advanced, highly automated facility.
The Foxconn project and the
support systems it will create around transportation, housing,
food supply, and entertainment will offer countless
opportunities for our college graduates for decades to come.
Instead of looking for higher paying jobs in places like
Minnesota and California, people will now have the choice of
raising a family in beautiful Wisconsin with a solid career. The
demand for highly skilled employees will empower Wisconsin
graduates to negotiate for nationally competitive salaries right
here in Wisconsin. Wisconsin workers deserve more than just
jobs, they deserve these careers.
Foxconn’s unprecedented
American investment will attract businesses, skilled workers,
and innovative ideas to make Wisconsin an epicenter of high tech
manufacturing unrivaled in North America. I support this
legislation, not because it will increase tax dollars, but
because it will increase family dollars.”
Watch highlights of the Foxconn committee
hearing, which answered many critical questions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdzDG19cSjI
Watch my floor speech about the legislation
here:
http://www.wiseye.org/Video-Archive/View-Video-Clip?vid=14812&start=04-17-34&end=04-29-46
You can view the final amended bill and the
votes taken on it here:
http://insession.legis.wisconsin.gov/SessionInfo/Proposal/1538/11922
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