Friday, June 14, 2019

Judge who liked Foxconn water deal also 'liked' Walker, Ryan, WMC Facebook pages

I'd noted the recent disclosure by Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, (WDC), that Brian Hayes, the WI administrative law judge who validated last week the 2018 approval by Walker's DNR of a Lake Michigan diversion to serve Foxconn was an ex-Walker staffer and donor, among other GOP connections.

Now the WDC has added more disclosures to its reporting:
And Hayes's Facebook page shows "likes" for GOP elected officials and groups that support Republicans, including Walker, former House Speaker Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) and the MacIver Institute.
Remember that:

* Luring Foxconn to Wisconsin was Walker's signature effort at state-subsidized development. Here is a continuously-updated blog archive about Foxconn, Walker's central connections to it and related fiscal, legal and environmental issues.

* Access to large volumes of fresh water is crucial to the production of Liquid Crystal Display panels like those which Foxconn has said could be made or assembled at the facility it is constructing at its Mount Pleasant, Racine County site. 

* Walker and Ryan were at the Foxconn ground-breaking.

* The WMC was a certified party in support of the DNR's diversion decision to which Hayes gave his approval. See page 2 of this hearing procedural document Hayes signed.

* The WMC was an early Foxconn booster, having presented legislative testimony in favor of exempting the project from an environmental impact statement review.

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