Legislator criticizes Iowa's incentives for fertilizer plant - WGEM.com: Quincy News, Weather, Sports, and Radio

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A state senator says more than $240 million in state and local tax dollars committed to attract a fertilizer plant to southeast Iowa came on top of as much as $300 million in federal taxpayer subsidies and amount to "the worst economic deal in state history."

Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, said at a Capitol news conference on Monday that he believes the $1.4 billion Orascom project was already headed to Iowa instead of Illinois and that Iowa didn't need to be so generous.

Gov. Terry Branstad's spokesman Tim Albrecht told The Gazette (http://bit.ly/PULOme ) that Iowa needed to provide up to $110 million in tax credits to sway Orascom and says the governor "won't apologize for fighting for every single job that he can bring to the state."