Kolste, Jorgensen introduce legislation discouraging outsourcing
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JANESVILLE -- Two area Democrats introduced legislation Monday that would prevent companies from applying for state monetary assistance for five years if they have shipped jobs outside of Wisconsin after receiving state aid.
State Reps. Debra Kolste, D-Janesville, and Andy Jorgensen, D-Milton, are the chief authors of Assembly Bill 304 and introduced it along with Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, according to a news release..
The lawmakers drafted the bill in response to reports corporations that received state aid through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation had laid off workers and moved jobs out of state.
The bill would make such companies ineligible for tax benefits, grants and loans. It also would create a commission to determine when a person or company receiving state aid is outsourcing jobs.
In a new release, the legislators said the bill would make sure the WEDC responsibly allocates state aid. The bill was referred to the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means.
Kolste said in an interview Monday that no Republicans have expressed support for the bill, although she is “relatively optimistic” she can gain some.
“They seem to be dug in on WEDC even though they (Republicans) acknowledge it's not working very well,” she said. “ I'm not sure why. I would think they would want to improve it.”