Hope you like baseball, because if Wisconsin lawmakers have their way, you’ll be paying for renovations at American Family Field. Is this good for Wisconsin? Who is supporting this plan?
Here’s Five Fast Facts About Stadium Renovations:
- ⚾ Play Ball - State Republican lawmakers unveiled a bill that would use more than $614M in public funding to repair and update the Brewers’ stadium. That sounds interesting buuuut it’s also more money than we spent to build it in the first place. What’s going on?
- 🧢 Strike - The plan says the state would provide $60.8M next fiscal year and then up to $20M each year after that through 2045. Milwaukee would contribute $202M and Milwaukee Country would be on the hook for $135M by 2050. Not to be left out, the Brewers would pay $100M and extend its lease through 2050. So, this is a team effort in spending (pun intended).
- 🏟️ Ball - Gov. Evers had proposed using $290M of the state’s budget surplus to fund the renovations, but Republicans put the kibosh on that.
- 🫴 Pop Fly - Republican lawmakers say that losing the Brewers would cost the state tens of millions in tax review to local economies.
- ⛔ Out - Milwaukee and Milwaukee County officials aren’t crazy about the proposal since they’re already in bad financial shape. Residents would also wind up paying twice. The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution that opposes the use of county money to pay for the renovations. So, there’s going to be a play-off to decide. (jk, it's probably going to take a long time and lots of people just talking).
🔥Bottom line: Baseball players are millionaires. Team owners are billionaires. Wisconsin has a tax surplus sitting at $7B. So, why does money for a stadium have to come from our pockets when there are other things that need that money? Surely there’s some kind of compromise that can be reached.
What do you think of this plan?
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