The Honorable, the Senate:
The Brewers stadium funding deal was negotiated behind closed doors, including only a small group of people. Senators were given mere minutes to evaluate the proposed substitute amendment and have our ideas drafted as amendments to it.
By moving the bill beyond the amendable stage, the Majority Leader purposefully acted to prohibit us and other Senators from introducing additional amendments to Assembly Bill 438. Senators from both sides of the aisle came prepared with ideas to make this deal more fair to the people, but had that opportunity taken from them through procedural tricks which prevented the Senate from doing its job: debating legislation and taking input from across the state into consideration before voting on a deal that will cost state and local taxpayers over half a billion dollars.
Assembly Bill 438 required significant changes to meet the needs of the people of the state of Wisconsin, and particularly the residents of the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County. The proposal that was ultimately approved by the Senate only minimally reduces the burden on taxpayers, and doesn’t require an audit and program evaluation before hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are spent. This was not enough to earn our votes. At the very least, the Senate should have considered the ideas of its members to make improvements to the deal.
After seeking the input of the people of the 3rd and 7th Senate Districts, we prepared the following amendments to Assembly Bill 438 to right-size this deal and make it fair to the taxpayers of Wisconsin. Because our opportunity to bring these ideas forward for consideration was cut short, we provide them here in an effort to illustrate a few of the ways that this deal could have been improved.
To reduce the public contributions and ensure adequate oversight of the lease negotiations, we brought the following amendments:
LRBa0745 would require that the Legislative Audit Bureau perform a program evaluation and financial audit of the Stadium District and a financial audit of the Brewers organization prior to the ratification of a new lease.
LRBa0737 would require the lease negotiated between the public stadium district authority and the team to come back to the legislature for ratification, ensuring public oversight of successive negotiations.
LRBa0739 would have instituted a 10% ticket surcharge on admission to all events at the stadium, including Brewers games and other Brewers events. This would have brought in an estimated $10.84 million in annual revenue, reducing the overall deal by nearly $300 million over the 27 year timeframe, while only adding $3.28 to the average ticket price, and adding only $0.60 to the most affordable tickets.
LRBa0744 would retain revenue from non-Brewers events at the stadium such as conventions, concerts, corporate outings, motorcycle classes that take place in the parking lots, to name a few. These revenues would be used to offset the taxpayer contribution.
LRBa0770 would require that revenue generated from advertising on infrastructure financed with public money would be split equally between the Brewers and the state.
LRBa0736 would require the Brewers organization to cover any difference between income tax collections and state payments for maintenance of the stadium. Currently, the state’s portion of the public contribution is set to match estimated income taxes from player salaries. If the state income tax is adjusted to reduce the higher brackets, the Brewers would be responsible to make up the difference.
LRBa0767 would require that funds generated by the sale of naming rights of the stadium be used to reduce the taxpayer contribution.
LRBa0738 would require a 5% sales tax on all non-ticket purchases made within the stadium and associated property, funds would be used to offset the taxpayer contribution.
LRBa0747 would protect against relocation of the team by requiring the return of all public funds paid for stadium maintenance as of the date of relocation.
LRBa0771 would require a study of potential voluntary contribution opportunities such as the sale of commemorative installations or artifacts like used equipment to offset the public contribution.
LRBa0773 would require a study of the cost to winterize the facility and estimated revenue generated by winterization. No money could be spent on winterization before completion of the study.
To ensure that a deal to publicly fund the baseball park is at least as beneficial as the deal to fund the construction of the professional basketball arena, we brought the following amendments:
LRBa0741 and LRBa0752 would require that public funds for maintenance of the stadium be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Brewers organization.
LRBa0746 would require a $20 wage floor for all team and contract workers, with annual cost of living raises, a labor neutrality agreement from the team, and a commitment to a Community Benefits Agreement. These provisions are similar to the arrangement negotiated between the Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers and the Milwaukee Bucks.
LRBa0742 would add 4 seats to the stadium district board, one would be chosen by the Mayor of Milwaukee, one by the Milwaukee Common Council President, one by the Milwaukee County Executive, and one by the Milwaukee County Board Chair.
LRBa0748 would require the team to return at least 20% of the parking lot acreage to the City of Milwaukee for a taxable use request for proposal process. This would create the opportunity for a district similar to the Deer District with Fiserv Forum or Titletown near Lambeau Field
In order to give back to the fans who make the team so successful, we offered the following amendments:
LRBa0753 would require the Brewers to fund the operation of public transit routes terminating at the stadium to provide greater access to the facility.
LRBa0768 would ensure that attendees continue to be able to carry in food and non-alcoholic beverages for personal consumption.
LRBa0772 would require the Brewers to ensure statewide broadcast television access to games.
Alternatively, to relinquish state obligations to maintenance of the stadium, we offered the following amendments:
LRBs0178 would transfer ownership of the stadium and district to the Brewers, and repeal the property tax exemption granted to that land. There would be no public responsibility for maintenance of the infrastructure.
LRBs0177 would transfer ownership of the stadium and district to the Brewers, and require the team to cover the cost of demolition and relinquish rights to the property if the team should relocate.
These amendments were developed through countless conversations with the residents of the 3rd and 7th Senate Districts, as well as colleagues in the legislature, who brought their ideas and expectations for any deal to provide public funds for maintenance of the baseball park to our attention. The Senate relies on the consideration and debate of ideas from all across Wisconsin to achieve public policy providing the greatest benefit to the people of our state. Motions to limit senators’ ability to propose and debate amendments today prevented the Senate from achieving the best possible deal for Wisconsin.
Respectfully,
TIM CARPENTER
Senator - 3rd District
CHRIS LARSON
Senator - 7th District
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Messages from the Assembly
By Edward A. Blazel, chief clerk.
Mr. President:
I am directed to inform you that the Assembly has
Passed and asks concurrence in:
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Messages from the Assembly Considered
Assembly Bill 133
Relating to: farmland preservation agreements and tax credits.
By Representatives Oldenburg, Novak, Shankland, Tranel, C. Anderson, Considine, Hurd, Jacobson, Mursau, Schmidt, VanderMeer, Bare, Joers, Krug, Nedweski, Penterman, Subeck, Myers and Pronschinske; cosponsored by Senators Testin, Taylor, Pfaff, Spreitzer, Ballweg, Hesselbein, Marklein, Quinn, Smith, Tomczyk, Carpenter, Roys, Wanggaard and Cowles.
hist179342Read first time and referred to the committee on Senate Organization. _____________
hist178848Senator LeMahieu, with unanimous consent, asked that the appointments be moved to the foot of the 14th order of business on today’s calendar. _____________
Messages from the Assembly
Senate Bill 85
Relating to: authorizing email for notice of public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district board business.
hist178817The question was: Shall Assembly Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 85 be concurred in? Concurred in.
Senate Bill 380
Relating to: Wisconsin grants and other financial aid for higher education.
hist178818The question was: Shall Assembly Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 380 be concurred in? Concurred in.
_____________
Second reading and amendments of senate joint resolutions and senate bills
hist178825Senator LeMahieu, with unanimous consent, asked that all Senate Bills on the 10th order of business be moved to the foot of the 14th order of business ahead of the appointments on today’s calendar. _____________
Second reading and amendments of assembly joint resolutions and assembly bills
hist178843Senator LeMahieu, with unanimous consent, asked that Assembly Bills 271, 335, 396, 494 and 566 be moved to the foot of the 14th order of business ahead of the appointments on today’s calendar. Assembly Bill 438
Relating to: baseball park district administration and funding for improvement of professional baseball park facilities.
hist178820The question was: Adoption of Senate Substitute Amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 438? The ayes and noes were demanded and the vote was: ayes, 25; noes, 8; absent or not voting, 0; as follows:
Ayes - Senators Agard, Ballweg, Cabral-Guevara, Carpenter, Felzkowski, Feyen, Hesselbein, Jagler, James, L. Johnson, Knodl, LeMahieu, Marklein, Pfaff, Quinn, Roys, Smith, Spreitzer, Stafsholt, Stroebel, Taylor, Tomczyk, Wanggaard, Wimberger and Wirch - 25.
Noes - Senators Bradley, Cowles, Hutton, Jacque, Kapenga, Larson, Nass and Testin - 8.
Absent or not voting - None - 0.
Adopted.
Senator LeMahieu asked unanimous consent that the rules be suspended and the bill be given its third reading.
Senator Nass objected.
hist178823Senator LeMahieu moved that the rules be suspended and the bill be given its third reading. The question was: Shall the rules be suspended and Assembly Bill 438 be read a third time?
The ayes and noes were required and the vote was: ayes, 26; noes, 7; absent or not voting, 0; as follows:
Ayes - Senators Agard, Ballweg, Cabral-Guevara, Felzkowski, Feyen, Hesselbein, Hutton, Jagler, James, L. Johnson, Knodl, LeMahieu, Marklein, Pfaff, Quinn, Roys, Smith, Spreitzer, Stafsholt, Stroebel, Taylor, Testin, Tomczyk, Wanggaard, Wimberger and Wirch - 26.
Noes - Senators Bradley, Carpenter, Cowles, Jacque, Kapenga, Larson and Nass - 7.
Absent or not voting - None - 0.
Rules suspended and the bill given its third reading.
Senator Carpenter asked unanimous consent that the rules be suspended and the record be expunged to return Assembly Bill 438 to the amendable state.
Senator Feyen objected.
