UPDATE: A funding bill for American Family Field is heading to the Wisconsin governor's desk.
Earlier Tuesday, the Senate passed a revised plan totaling $641 million. That is $5 million less than the original plan passed by the Assembly. The state puts up nearly $30 million less, and the Brewers kick in an extra $10 million. A ticket tax for non-Brewers events would generate $14 million by 2050.
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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin lawmakers approved a plan Tuesday to spend nearly half a billion dollars to help the Milwaukee Brewers repair their stadium over the next three decades, pushing the proposal to Gov. Tony Evers' desk despite arguments that the team has more than enough money and doesn't deserve such a sizable government subsidy.
The Senate approved the legislation on a 19-14 vote. The Assembly followed suit Tuesday evening, passing the proposal 72-26. Evers said Tuesday evening that he plans to sign the funding package into law.
“It's a great day for the franchise but I think an even greater day for the state,” Brewers President of Business Operations Rich Schlesinger said during a news conference following the Senate vote.
The Brewers say 22-year-old American Family Field needs extensive repairs. The stadium's glass outfield doors, seats and concourses need replacing, the stadium's luxury suites and video scoreboard need upgrades and the stadium's signature retractable roof, fire suppression systems, parking lots, elevators and escalators need work, according to the team.
“After months of hard work, I’m proud to say we’re going to be keeping the Brewers in Milwaukee, supporting thousands of family-supporting jobs — including union jobs — and ensuring a new generation of Wisconsinites can grow up cheering for the home team just like countless others before them,” Evers said on Tuesday.
Brewers officials initially said the team might leave Milwaukee if they didn't get public dollars for repairs. Schlesinger, the Brewers' president of business operations, softened the team's stance last month, saying the Brewers want to remain in the city “for the next generation." But the prospect of the team leaving looms.
Debates over handing billions of public dollars to professional sports teams are always divisive. The Brewers' principal owner, Mark Attanasio, is worth an estimated $700 million, according to Yahoo Finance, and the team itself is valued at around $1.6 billion, according to Forbes. But Brewers officials initially said the team might leave Milwaukee if they didn’t get public dollars for repairs.
Fearful of losing tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue if the Brewers leave Milwaukee, lawmakers have been working on a plan to help cover the repairs since September. The legislation has gone through multiple iterations.
The Assembly last month approved a plan that calls for the state to contribute $411.5 million and the city of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County to contribute a combined $135 million. The state and the locals would make the payments in annual installments through 2050. The Brewers would contribute $100 million and extend their lease at the stadium through 2050, guaranteeing Major League Baseball would remain in its smallest market for another 27 years.
But Senate Republicans balked at the state contribution and amended the package last week to scale it back to $386.5 million, according to a Legislative Fiscal Bureau analysis. They also added a $2 surcharge on tickets to non-baseball events and an $8 surcharge on luxury suite tickets to non-baseball events. The surcharges would generate an estimated $14.1 million by 2050. The city and county's contributions would remain unchanged but the team's contribution would increase to $110 million.
Republicans amended the plan again Tuesday, this time during floor debate, to incrementally raise the $2 ticket surcharge to $4 and the luxury suite ticket surcharge from $8 to $10 by 2050. The revenue would be used to reduce the state contribution. According to Legislative Fiscal Bureau projections, the surcharges will generate about $20.7 million, reducing the state contribution to $365.8 million.
Democratic Sen. Chris Larson of Milwaukee railed against the public contribution on the Senate floor, labeling the Brewers’ talk of leaving a “trick” that other Major League Baseball teams have used to leverage public dollars for stadiums. He said public dollars would be better spent on local ballparks, complaining that the field where his children play is a “mud pit.”
“The Brewers do not need this cash,” Larson said. “The Brewers have decided they need additional cash and we are falling for that.”
Republican Sen. Dan Feyen of Fond du Lac, who authored the Senate amendments, argued that the team will generate more than $600 million in income tax revenue over the next three decades.
“The state of Wisconsin is far better off with the Brewers here,” Feyen said. “This is a good deal for baseball fans, a good deal for taxpayers, a good deal for the state of Wisconsin. The vote is yes.”
The final Senate vote was fractured, with three of the four Democrats who represent Milwaukee joining 11 Republicans in voting against it. LaTonya Johnson was the only Milwaukee Democrat who voted for the plan.
The stadium opened in 2001 as Miller Park and replaced aging County Stadium. Construction cost about $392 million and was funded largely through a 0.1% sales tax imposed in Milwaukee County and the four other counties that surround the stadium. The sales tax generated about $605 million before it expired in 2020.
The stadium name changed to American Family Field in 2021 after the Brewers struck a 15-year naming rights deal with the insurance company.
Gov. Tony Evers announced he will sign a bipartisan plan passed Tuesday to keep the Brewers and Major League Baseball in Wisconsin. Below is his statement:
“This is a great day for Wisconsin. For decades, the Brewers have been a cherished part of our state’s heritage and an essential part of Milwaukee’s and our state’s economic success. And after months of hard work, I’m proud to say we’re going to be keeping the Brewers in Milwaukee, supporting thousands of family-supporting jobs—including union jobs—and ensuring a new generation of Wisconsinites can grow up cheering for the home team just like countless others before them,” said Gov. Evers. “As a lifelong Brewers fan, I always believed that we could work together to find common ground and build bipartisan support to keep this team and critical economic driver right here in Wisconsin, and today, that’s exactly what we did.”
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson provided the following statement on the passage of the Brewers stadium legislation:
“The Legislature’s action today advances my goals of keeping the Brewers in Milwaukee and protecting local taxpayers.
With this agreement, the local contribution comes exclusively from the administrative fee associated with the local sales tax. What that means is no negative impacts will be felt in future city budgets and no loss of shared revenue as a result of the stadium deal.
I want to thank the Governor, Assembly and Senate leaders, and all who have thoughtfully examined the options and listened carefully to local concerns. What legislators have achieved is a bipartisan solution that keeps Major League Baseball in Milwaukee for the foreseeable future.
I am grateful to all the partners who worked toward a positive outcome including organized labor and business leaders.
Milwaukee is a big-league city. Our sports teams add life to our city; they create jobs, and they raise Milwaukee’s profile around the country and around the world. Today’s actions affirm that.”
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