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Governor Tony Evers is expected to sign
the new Brewers Stadium funding package,
keeping the team in Milwaukee until 2050
or another 27 years.
The slim down state contribution
of an estimated nearly $366 million
with the help of ticket surcharges
helped push bipartisan approval of the plan.
Still, there was also bipartisan opposition
to signing on to such public funding
of a Major League ballpark.
Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard
helped negotiate the terms.
She joins us now.
Thanks very much for being here.
Thank you.
So why is it important to you
to keep the Milwaukee Brewers in Milwaukee?
Well, it's important to me
that the Milwaukee Brewers are here
in Wisconsin and in Milwaukee.
They're part of our culture.
And as a state that is suffering
from an awful lot of outmigration
of our young people,
to me it is vitally important
that we think about the impacts of our culture
leaving our state,
making sure that the Brewers stay here in Wisconsin
not only is good for the talking points
and the vision of what Wisconsin is going to look like,
but we also know that it's good paying jobs
for the people that work at the stadium.
That it provides additional revenue
to counties around the state of Wisconsin
because we were able to negotiate a decrease
in sales tax fees that the state will collect
from those communities.
That we know that there are good jobs
that will go into the renovations
that need to happen at the stadium.
Ultimately, it hits a lot of marks
on how it is that Wisconsin will benefit
from keeping the Brewers here.
Was the threat of them leaving real?
Absolutely, yes.
It was made very clear to me
that the Brewers had received multiple offers
from other cities across the nation
and that in January they were going to be taking
very seriously communicating with those locations.
Would you have voted for it
or urged your members to,
if in the end the bill did not reduce
the state's financial contribution?
I believe that good work was done early on
by Governor Evers and my colleagues
in the assembly to get the bill to a better place
than when it was first introduced,
but I also was very confident that I was able
to bring the voices of my colleagues
and the constituents who we represent to the table
on the Senate and make it even better.
So I'm glad I didn't have to make that decision.
We were able to get the state revenue numbers
down for the investment
and also negotiate seat at the table
for the locals, the county and the city.
And that was very important to me in my caucus as well.
Yeah, why?
Tell me about the importance of that.
Well, there's an old saying.
If you're not at the table,
you're on the table.
And knowing that the city of Milwaukee
and the county of Milwaukee
are true partners in delivering funds
to keep the Brewers here in the state of Wisconsin,
I think it's vitally important
that they also are sitting
at the table in part of the negotiations.
Still, as we mentioned,
there was opposition to this
from those saying that it's a windfall for the Brewers,
too much public funding for a profitable sports team.
What's your response to those concerns and criticisms?
Certainly, that is a moral issue nationwide
when it comes to professional sports teams,
but this is the trend.
And we can have those conversations
and work with our professional sports teams
and their associations to change that dynamic,
but right now, if we want to keep the Brewers in Wisconsin,
there had to be state contribution.
We do have a $7 billion surplus,
and frankly, I would have preferred
that we had gone down the path
that was proposed by Governor Evers,
but the Republicans and the legislature didn't like that.
We were able to bring down contributions by tax dollars
and take some of that pressure off,
add more voice to the table for our local governments,
and also negotiate benefits for our counties
across the state of Wisconsin through this deal.
Is it exactly perfect?
No, but I think it's very important
that we keep the Brewers here in the state of Wisconsin,
and I'm glad we were able to get there.
What about other priorities of yours
that could use an infusion of cash,
particularly as we speak about that surplus?
Those that you've enumerated include education,
the UW, increasing wages and childcare funding.
This Brewers package was such a big deal,
and a lot of state money went toward it.
What about those other priorities of yours?
So, absolutely.
We know that in the legislature
we can walk into gum at the same time,
that we can work hard on multiple different policies,
protecting our air and water,
addressing PFAS contamination,
addressing our childcare crisis here in the state of Wisconsin,
funding our schools at all levels,
whether it's our K-12 schools, our university systems,
unsticking the block that is preventing workers
at our university systems from receiving the wage
that they were promised through our budget.
These are all priorities of Democrats in the legislature,
and we're going to continue pushing for them,
but at the same time we had another conversation
that needed to happen, and that was in regards to the Brewers.
Just very briefly, with less than half a minute left,
there was bipartisan negotiation here.
Do you think that bodes well going forward?
We've had bipartisan negotiations
on a number of big bills this session,
and I do maintain hope.
That's what people in Wisconsin want.
They want us to work with each other.
Alright, Senator Agard.
Thanks very much.
Thank you.
The schools aren't out for Thanksgiving yet, right?
Oh, no.
They're off today.
I'm not exactly sure why.
Maybe the boys know why,
but then they go back to school Monday and Tuesday of next week.
Nice to know today, also.
At least my kids do.
Yeah.
Well, thank you.
Nice to see you.