Join us for Foxconn discussion

What do you still want to know about the state’s deal with Foxconn Technology Group?

What questions still need to be answered?

Along with our partners at Milwaukee Public Radio, we intend to tackle that topic Nov. 15 in Racine County.

In the last of our “Across the Divide” community conversations for 2017, we’ll focus on Wisconsin’s $3 billion bet on the Taiwanese technology giant. On Monday, Gov. Scott Walker signed legislation to pay Foxconn up to $2.85 billion in tax incentives and forgo another $150 million in sales tax revenue.

But although the deal is done, in some ways the questions about it are only beginning.

Since the first of this year, we’ve explored a series of topics, topics that cut deep across our political divides here in Wisconsin. Our approach: Bring smart, committed people together in the same room and have a thoughtful, moderated discussion. It’s worked.

Earlier this week at Anodyne Coffee Roasters, Rachel Morello of WUWM (89.7-FM) and Erin Richards of the Journal Sentinel, moderated a discussion among experts on school choice that included students with experience attending both kinds of schools. If you missed that discussion (which aired live on Facebook), you can still watch it online. On to Foxconn … What do you want to discuss? Here are a few potential angles:

■ The politics of the deal. What does Walker have on the line? Or his Democratic opponents, who largely opposed the deal? Or local officials in Racine County (expected to be Foxconn’s Wisconsin home) who may need to tap local taxpayers for support?

■ Are taxpayers protected? If the project fails to produce the 13,000 jobs promised, has the state done enough to insulate them?

■ How should communities be preparing the workforce? Do the unemployed in Milwaukee, in particular people of color in impoverished neighborhoods, have a shot at these jobs?

■ Is Racine County ready for Foxconn? The complex, which may cost upwards of $10 billion to build and which will cover hundreds of acres, will require prodigious amounts of water and fresh infrastructure to deliver the basics — water, sewer and power. What will all that cost? Who will pay?

What else do you want to know?

Help us design our final community conversation of the year.

Comment on this article or by email: david.haynes @jrn.com or on Twitter: @DavidDHaynes

See you Nov. 15 at Prairie School. David D. Haynes is editorial page editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.