On 2022-04-19 07:06:34 +0000, Technobarbarian said:

> WTF?
>
> "Oklahoma governor asks for billions to fund unnamed corporation — and
> says he'll reveal the details after cash is given"
>
> "Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, just returned from a
> fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago with a request for his state legislature to
> dole out cash for a corporation he desperately wants to lure to the
> state. Not only did he ask for the money for the undisclosed company,
> but the legislature also did it without even releasing the bill to the
> public.
>
> Oklahoma has suffered over the past several years as the hard-right
> policies, failing schools and access to healthcare has made it an
> increasingly unwanted place for people to live. When people don't want
> to live in a state, businesses don't want to relocate their
> headquarters or factories there.
>
> In 2021, the Oklahoma Journal Record reported that the lack of skilled
> workers is causing problems for those companies that already are in
> Oklahoma. Companies that need highly skilled employees with good pay
> and benefits simply can't find them in Oklahoma because the skilled
> workforce is so small. That leaves companies in a position to search
> for employees out of state and import a workforce. However, with such
> bad rankings, people don't want to move to the state, particularly when
> other jobs are available elsewhere.
>
> Still, the governor thinks he can pay people enough to relocate their
> companies. It's remarkably similar to the effort to court Foxconn to
> Wisconsin. In that case, former Gov. Scott Walker promised $3 billion
> to the company had to hire a minimum of 5,200 workers by the end of
> 2022 and "up to" 13,000 after that. So, up to means one more than
> 5,200. Foxconn never hired anyone and later claimed there was never any
> intention to build what Walker and former President Donald Trump had
> promised.
>
> Now, Stitt is trying the same tactic with Oklahoma; only he won't name
> the company or give details about the agreement. A report from the
> local site NonDoc explained Panasonic’s board of directors is meeting
> soon to vote on the location of a $4 billion battery plant in North
> America. Panasonic has an agreement with Tesla to make their car
> batteries. While Republicans assume that is the company, it's not even
> confirmed Panasonic is the one they'd give the money to.
>
> So, after going to the fundraiser in Florida, Stitt came back with the
> idea for a rebate program to bring a company he won't disclose to the
> state and create 4,000 jobs. State leaders have been forced to sign
> non-disclosure agreements about the plan, which is called "Project
> Ocean."
>
> Kansas has a bid for Panasonic, offering $1.2 billion in incentives. At
> a press conference Monday, Stitt said he signed a non-disclosure
> agreement preventing him from saying the name of the company or
> revealing anything about the job possibilities and financials of the
> project. Still, with nothing to go on, Stitt wanted the GOP-led
> legislature to pass an economic incentive package for the company, with
> details to come later. The legislature did it, offering at least $3.6
> billion for 500 direct jobs and at least 1,000 in the second year,
> 2,500 in the third year and 4,000 in the fifth year. That's $900,000
> per job that Oklahoma is offering to pay the company.
>
> House Speaker Pro Tempore Kyle Hilbert explained that in the past there
> have been “safeguards” with financial caps on the amount the state
> could give to a corporation. He explained that the caps were to stop it
> from “just kind of growing and growing and growing out of control.”
>
> “How am I supposed to go back to my constituents and say, ‘I gave away
> three-quarters of a billion dollars to a company that I don’t even know
> their name?’ Is that responsible?” asked Democratic state Rep. Collin
> Walke.
>
> Ironically, as an oil and gas state, the Republican officials have
> rejected electronic vehicles and green energy technologies. There is
> currently a restriction preventing people from putting solar or wind
> energy they generate from their own properties back on the electrical
> grid.
>
> This year, Oklahoma’s House Bill 3994 would prohibit sales of Tesla
> cars in Oklahoma because they don't use franchise dealerships the way
> others do. The company sells direct to the consumers. So, essentially,
> if the company is Panasonic, Oklahoma would pay $3.6 billion to a
> company to make batteries in the state for cars that the state's people
> can't even buy.
>
> Republicans in Oklahoma voted on the bill Stitt demanded before it was
> even released to the public for review."
>
> TB

SOME (both D and R) are starting to question blank slate breaks given
to businesses to locate/stay.
Locally Boeing traditiionally gets lots of breaks, but after they moved
Corp Headquarters to Chicago and opened the new plant in North Carolina
they came and asked for -new- breaks.
They were told it would come with minimum job requirements .....