MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) – The Joint Finance Committee voted against reimbursing Green Bay, Ashwaubenon, and Brown County for public safety costs incurred during the NFL Draft.
Documents provided by Wall’s office show the Joint Finance Committee considered a motion from Democrats which included a one-time $1 million payment to Green Bay specifically for public safety costs.
The motion failed on a 4-12 vote. Wall says the vote fell along party lines on the Republican-led committee. The motion also had other fiscal proposals, including more county and municipal aid, reducing statewide school district levies, and a school levy tax credit.
Republican representatives David Steffen, of Howard, and Benjamin Franklin, of De Pere, originally proposed $1.25 million in April to cover about two-thirds of the costs for increased staffing: Up to $500,000 for Brown County; $675,000 for the City of Green Bay and Green Bay Metro Fire Department; and $75,000 for Ashwaubenon.
Lawmakers say that while they’re disappointed, there’s a chance that the reimbursement could still happen.
“It’s disappointing. I said that in my statements. It’s disappointing because we put out the money for something that benefited not just us but the state as a whole,” said Senator Jamie Wall.
Sen. Wall is still unhappy that the funding was voted down by Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee during their state budget hearing on Thursday.
“Their approach has been to take the governor’s proposal and more or less disregard it and run off that the budget was passed two years ago,” says Sen. Wall. “What is absolutely true is the state reimbursement of local public safety costs was a casualty of that approach, and they had a chance to remedy that mistake last night, and they chose not to take it.”
Representative David Steffen says getting reimbursed this year was a long shot and a Hail Mary because they requested and received $2 million last session for the draft. He understands why the motion failed.
“Anytime you try to go back-to-back years for a one-time event, it’s a little more of a struggle,” says Rep. Steffen.
The NFL Draft attracted 312,000 unique visitors, according to industry-leading analytics firm Placer.ai, for a total of 600,000 people in the draft campus over several days.
It was the largest event the city ever hosted.
Steffen is confident they can still get the money. He and the city of Green Bay, Brown County, and the Village of Ashwaubenon applied for a grant through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to reimburse them for their public safety costs incurred during the draft.
“I’m still hopeful that we’re going to make this happen through the existing pot of money that’s available through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation,” says Rep. Steffen. “We’ve always had this backup plan, and so we’re going to plan B.”
Action 2 News reached out to multiple local leaders about the Joint Finance Committee’s decision.
Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich declined an interview, and a spokesperson for the city says they will not be releasing any statements at this point.
The Village of Ashwaubenon and Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach have not yet responded to requests for comment.
According to the Joint Finance Committee’s agenda, they will address the budget proposal for the Department of Corrections at their meeting on Tuesday. This will include the future of Green Bay Correctional Institution and Waupun Correctional Institution.
Gov. Evers proposed a closure of GBCI by 2029 and a remodel of WCI, with the total cost coming out to approximately $500 million.
Sen. Wall has been a proponent of the plan, joining Rep. Benjamin Franklin and Allouez village president Jim Rafter at a special meeting on Wednesday to promote a petition in support of closing GBCI.
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