NEENAH, Wisconsin (From news reports) -- Gov. Scott Walker said Thursday "it's hard to tell" whether Kimberly-Clark Corp. will take his administration's tax deal to keep its Neenah and Fox Crossing plants open.

"We put the best offer we could on the table," Walker said after speaking at the Lincoln Day Dinner for the Winnebago County Republicans. "... Even though it's not new jobs, we thought, unlike just anybody out there, when you think of an industry that has such a large impact, an employer that has such a large impact, that's why we said we should parallel what we did for (Foxconn)."

He added that he thinks the special legislation -- sponsored by Fox Valley area Republicans, Rep. Jim Steineke and Sen. Roger Roth -- to give Kimberly-Clark incentives would pass both the state Assembly and state Senate before the legislative session ends.

"Whether or not (Kimberly-Clark) takes it, it's hard to tell," Walker said. "... My sense was we wanted to make sure we weren't walking away from that situation without putting our best offer on the table, and that's exactly what we're doing."

In late January, Kimberly-Clark announced it would be closing two plants in the Fox Cities as part of a restructuring plan. The closures would leave 600 workers out of a job.

In response, Walker's administration sent a letter Thursday to Kimberly-Clark leaders pitching their deal in hopes of keeping the plants open.

The deal would include:

refundable tax credits of 17 percent on eligible wages for 15 years

refundable tax credits of 15 percent on capital expenditures incurred over a five-year period

a five-year sales tax exemption on the same capital expenditures

Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson said he was "encouraged" that state officials are trying to help Fox Valley workers affected by the closures.

"I am encouraged that state leaders are beginning to pay attention and this may help KC," Nelson said in a statement Thursday. "That's a good thing. But I'm concerned the bill does nothing for the plants in Outagamie (County), nothing for future closures, bankruptcies and receiverships and there is still no industry-wide strategy."

The Fox Valley has been rocked in recent months with closures and bankruptcies within its signature paper industry. Appleton Coated went into receivership late last year and Appvion filed for bankruptcy protection this fall, in addition to the Kimberly-Clark closures.

Walker is running for re-election in November. So far, there are more than a dozen Democrats seeking to face him in the fall, but first, they have to face each other in an August primary.

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