State Senator Sarah Trone Garriott released the following statement, following her vote against the $1.4 billion tax giveaway to Mesabi Metallics during today’s special session:

“Without real protections for taxpayers or guarantees that Iowans will fill these jobs, I have serious concerns that Iowa taxpayers will be left holding the bag while a foreign company walks away with over a billion dollars of our money. I voted no today to protect taxpayers, and I will continue to support the creation of good paying jobs for Iowans and ensure our tax dollars don’t go to waste.”

Background

Mesabi’s parent company has a record of broken promises and failure to follow through leaving taxpayers on the hook for tens of billions of dollars. This plan has drawn bipartisan opposition due to serious questions and lack of guardrails to prevent a foreign company from walking away with billions in Iowa taxpayer money.

A long record of broken promises in Minnesota

• Almost 20 years ago, Mesabi’s parent company, India-based Essar Group, promised Minnesota’s Iron Range a mine and a steel mill in Nashwauk, with steel production by 2012. [Des Moines Register, 10/1/26]
• The steel mill never happened. Essar dropped it in 2015 amid construction delays and millions in unpaid contractor bills, and the Minnesota company filed for bankruptcy in 2016. [Northern News Now, 9/30/26]
• When it went bankrupt, Essar Steel Minnesota owed creditors about $1.1 billion. [Des Moines Register, 10/1/26]
• In 2019, Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources wrote that Essar had violated contracts, missed deadlines, failed to pay contractors, and failed to repay the state and a local government $66 million for infrastructure. [Des Moines Register, 10/1/26, citing Minnesota Star Tribune]
• In 2021, the company couldn’t show the $200 million in the bank that Minnesota required, so the state took back part of its mineral lease. A DNR spokesperson said Essar was not a “credible miner,” and Gov. Tim Walz said the project had caused “incredible heartache” on the Iron Range. [Des Moines Register, 10/1/26]
• The Minnesota mine took nearly 20 years to finish. [Iowa Starting Line]

Taxpayers were left holding the bag

• Essar still owes Minnesota about $22 million on a $71 million infrastructure debt. It’s making payments, but the debt isn’t paid off. [Northern News Now, 9/30/26]
• Contractors were left owed about $60 million. “It was a really dark time for the range in general,” said former Minnesota Rep. Jason Metsa. [Northern News Now, 9/30/26]
• The company owed unpaid taxes to the city of Nashwauk and Itasca County. Nashwauk’s former mayor said the amount owed to the city was about 60% of its operating budget for the year. [Northern News Now, 9/30/26]
• Metsa’s warning to Iowa: “Don’t go throw all your eggs in one basket all at once in the hope of jobs. I wish I could wave a magic wand and say, Iowa don’t do this.” [Northern News Now, 9/30/26]

Serious questions about where the money goes

• After the Minnesota company went bankrupt, the new owners sued Essar Global, saying it moved about $500 million meant for the mine into other businesses. [Des Moines Register, 10/1/26, citing Mesabi Tribune]
• In Canada, a court-appointed monitor accused Essar Global of billing its steel plant $9 million for a corporate jet that plant never used, and $7.5 million for New York City office and residential space. (Essar denied the allegations.) [Des Moines Register, 10/1/26]
• An Indian business magazine called Essar Group one of India’s most indebted companies and “notorious” for defaults going back to 1999. [Des Moines Register, 10/1/26, citing Business Today]
• Essar companies owed $2.35 billion to VTB, a Russian state-owned bank that was later sanctioned. A U.K. member of Parliament has called for an investigation into how those loans were moved, and the government of Cyprus said it was looking into whether EU sanctions were violated. (The company says it follows all sanctions laws and gets no money from VTB.) [Des Moines Register, 10/1/26, citing The Guardian]

No guarantee these jobs go to Iowans

• In Minnesota, Mesabi said its mine would create 350 jobs. It employs about 200. [Iowa Starting Line, citing Minnesota Public Radio]
• The jobs promise has already moved around. The White House said 1,700 permanent jobs, and the company has said 1,750. [KWQC/KCRG, 9/29/26; Iowa Capital Dispatch, 9/29/26]
• As recently as July 2026, the company was posting jobs for this project in Paducah, Kentucky, before Iowa “got kind of into the mix late.” [KCRG, 10/2/26]

“Already started building”? Not true.

• At the White House announcement, President Trump said, “They’ve already started building.” KWQC investigative reporter Matt Christensen checked and said: “That’s not true.” [Yahoo News, reporting on KWQC]
• KWQC found no major land purchases tied to the project in Lee County this year, no permits filed, and no finished site plan. The exact site still hasn’t been made public. [KWQC/KCRG, 9/29/26]
• KWQC also reported that the financing isn’t settled. [KWQC/KCRG, 9/29/26]
• Even local leaders haven’t been told the details. On Sept. 14, Lee County Supervisor Denise Fraise said, “Nobody’s brought anything for us,” and Supervisor Ginger Knisley said, “I’ve heard rumors. I’ve seen things on Facebook. But as a county supervisor, I have not been approached by the company.” [Des Moines Register live blog, 10/2/26]
• As of Sept. 29, Lee County officials still had not received details from the company about its plans. [Des Moines Register live blog, 10/2/26; KWQC/KCRG, 9/29/26]
• Some landowners near Wever said a real estate agent for a shell company asked about buying their land this summer, but no sales have been recorded with the county. [Des Moines Register live blog, 10/2/26]
• Four days before the announcement, the U.S. Export-Import Bank approved a $770 million loan to Mesabi Metallics. The company’s lobbyists include former Trump adviser Jason Miller. [Des Moines Register, 10/1/26, citing CBS News]

We’ve seen this before: Foxconn

• In 2017, Foxconn promised Wisconsin a $10 billion factory and 13,000 jobs. State and local governments put up hundreds of millions in tax breaks and infrastructure. [KCRG, 10/1/26]
• What Wisconsin got: less than $1 billion invested, up to 2,600 workers, and a plant that was never built the way it was promised. [KCRG, 10/1/26]

Plan draws bipartisan opposition

• Republican State Sen. Dave Sires said he would vote no: “Iowans are being asked to support a massive commitment of taxpayer resources before they’ve had a meaningful chance to understand what they’re even being asked to approve.” [Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, 10/1/26]
• Sires on the timeline: “The plant was announced Monday, and within days, we are being called into a special session to approve a major tax credit package. That is an extraordinarily compressed timeline for a decision of this size and significance. There has been very little time for public input, very little opportunity to fully examine the proposal, and far too many unanswered questions.” [Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, 10/1/26]
• Sires: “Iowans deserve the details, the answers, and a voice in the process. That’s why I’ll be voting NO.” [Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, 10/1/26]
• Republican State Sen. Jeff Taylor came out against the current steel mill incentive proposal: “we are facing a budget crunch in the state of Iowa. We will be okay in the short run, but this is a commitment of a substantial amount of money spread out over ten years. That is true. And also it’s conditional on the factory continuing to operate. And that is also true, but it’s an upfront commitment that we’re going to have to factor in for the next ten years. And $1.4 billion is a lot of money.” [Sioux County Radio]
• Democratic State Sen. Thomas Townsend: “What is the upfront investment? What does it cost the taxpayers if this project never happens?” [KCRG, 10/1/26]
• Democratic State Sen. Tony Bisignano said the rush to give away “hundreds of millions of dollars in credits, in refunds and rebates” before the election was “suspicious,” and that it “could very easily been done after the election.” [Iowa Capital Dispatch, 9/25/26]
• Iowa is already running “billion-dollar deficits year after year.” [Iowa Starting Line]

Sources

• Des Moines Register, “Mesabi Metallics, company behind Iowa steel plant, has troubled past” (Tyler Jett, 10/1/26)
• Des Moines Register live blog, “Lee County leaders say they’re still not at the table” (Tyler Jett, 10/2/26)
• Northern News Now, “‘A gaping hole’: Iron Range leaders react to Mesabi Metallics’ Iowa steel mill plan” (Kyre Johnson, 9/30/26)
• Iowa Capital Dispatch, “Iowa lawmakers to convene Friday for special session on tax incentives for steel mill” (9/29/26)
• Iowa Capital Dispatch, “Iowa lawmakers could return for special session on steel plant tax incentives before midterms” (9/25/26)
• Iowa Starting Line, “Could Iowa get the nation’s largest steel plant?”
• KCRG, “Iowa steel plant draws comparisons to Trump’s unfulfilled Foxconn promise” (10/1/26)
• KCRG, “Iowa lawmakers to vote on raising tax incentive cap for a $15B steel plant” (10/2/26)
• KCRG/KWQC, “Done deal? Despite White House claims, major hurdles remain for Iowa’s $15B steel plant” (9/29/26)
• Yahoo News, “Local Iowa Report Provides Scathing Fact-Check of Trump’s New Steel Mill: ‘That’s Not True'”
• Sioux County Radio, “Taylor opposes current steel mill incentive proposal; Wheeler sees opportunity”
• Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, “Sires to vote no on $1.36B incentive package for steel mill”

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