BRILLION, WI (WTAQ) – The discussion surrounding a tax incentive bill to keep the Kimberly-Clark Cold Spring facility open isn’t going away and Governor Walker weighed in on Monday while visiting Brillion.
Local officials asked last week for an extension for the vote on the $100 million proposed bill until after the November elections. The company originally gave the Senate until Sunday, September 30th to vote on the bill.
Governor Walker says it’s encouraging the conversation has extended into October.
“The good news and why I’m cautiously optimistic is nobody said hey the timeline passed we’re done,” explains Walker.
About 500 jobs are on the line at the Cold Spring facility, but this situation runs a little deeper.
“There’s a lot of suppliers, there are almost 200 suppliers that are tied into this plant with Kimberly-Clark,” says Walker. “This is important not just for the jobs at Kimberly-Clark, but for all over the state.”
For those reasons, Walker believes the tax incentive bill is vital for the state’s future.
“This is about looking forward, it’s not about looking backward,” he explains. “Rather to look forward and to say, how do we keep the Kimberly-Clark workforce that’s really well trained?”
The bill has already passed the Assembly and awaits a vote from the State Senate.
Governor Walker remains confident in the bill’s path to being passed.
“We put an offer on the table that’s really hard to refuse,” says Walker. “We were going to do whatever it took, within reason, to keep those jobs.”
