Wisconsin Assembly approves $545 million Brewers stadium deal

Listen to this article

The Wisconsin State Assembly on Tuesday approved a Republican-authored plan to use $545 million in public funds to cover repairs at the Milwaukee Brewers‘ stadium.

Assembly Bills 438 and 439, which relate to funding for improvement of American Family Field and appropriating those funds respectively, lays out a blueprint to use $411 million in state funding, $100 million from the Milwaukee Brewers and $135 million in local funding from Milwaukee County and the city combined. Included in the plans is a lease extension through 2050.

The issue has been a hot topic for possible development on the acres of surface lots that surround American Family Field. The Milwaukee Brewers ownership has said that it’s unlikely they will build on the land, but amendments to the funding bill would create a working group with Milwaukee officials to find a way to make taxable buildings amicable. Additionally, the deal includes $25 million to “winterize” the stadium for year-round events.

After a 69-27 vote, the issue will move onto the Wisconsin State Senate next. If they vote to pass the bill, it will go to Gov. Tony Evers who will decide whether to sign it into law or veto it. Evers has said he was supportive of the bill after the revisions, and so were officials in Milwaukee County and the city.

At the start of the Assembly session, Democratic State Rep. Greta Neubauer said her caucus was split over support for the bill. Rep. Supreme Moore Omokunde, also a Democrat, said Milwaukee was on the hook for the deal while a previous Brewers stadium deal decades ago included a sales tax among five counties.

“It still does not go far enough,” said Rep. Lori Palmeri, an Oshkosh Democrat. She said despite the work the Brewers and state did to roll back burden on taxpayers, it wasn’t enough.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a powerful figure in the Legislature who helped introduce the bills in September, said it wasn’t worth risking the Milwaukee Brewers leaving the state. The Milwaukee Brewers haven’t made hints of leaving, but they have seven more years on their current lease.

“It’s easy math. If the Brewers leave, dollars follow. That means we have less money to invest in all the critical things,” Vos added.

In September, Vos appeared alongside fellow lawmakers to introduce a bill that called for $614 million in public contributions. That number was scaled back later by Rep. Rob Brooks, the bill’s chief sponsor, after local leaders were hesitant to give their support.

Milwaukee County and the city were both recently allowed to raise a sales tax to tackle their own respective fiscal cliffs.

Reporting from The Associated Press was used in this story.