STATEWIDE - Today Citizen Action of Wisconsin announced strong support for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) outsourcing accountability bills authored by Senator Dave Hansen, Rep. Debra Kolste, and Rep. Andy Jorgensen.

The bills ban companies who receive public economic development money and then outsource jobs from state aid for a period of five years. The bills are AB 340 in the Assembly and SB 211 in the Senate.

The bills follow revelations by WKOW TV Madison that a multinational corporation receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in state economic development support has twice outsourced Wisconsin jobs to Mexico. WEDC has thus far failed to take any action against the company, and has yet to close loopholes that allow companies to both take public economic development dollars and outsource jobs that Citizen Action of Wisconsin identified last year.

Citizen Action has repeatedly called on Governor Walker and lawmakers to fix the loopholes that allow public economic development dollars to go to companies engaged in outsourcing jobs. Citizen Action also continues to call on the Legislature to disband WEDC and create a fully accountable public agency to head up the state’s vital job creation efforts.

“It is clear that the Walker Administration is continuing its destructive policy of doling out tax credits and other economic assistance to large corporations engaged in selling out Wisconsin workers,” said Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “The best way to protect precious state economic development dollars, and make sure they are only available to companies creating more family supporting jobs here in Wisconsin, is a strict policy against giving public money to firms engaged in outsourcing.”