Brewers stadium deal clears key legislative panel, could face Senate vote next week

A plan that would spend roughly a half-billion dollars in public funding on improvements to the Milwaukee Brewers’ stadium cleared a key legislative hurdle Wednesday.

The Legislature’s powerful budget committee voted 15-1 in favor of the plan. The full Senate could vote on it as soon as next week.

The latest version of the bill would slightly decrease the state’s contribution to the project by almost $30 million, from about $411 million in the measure that passed the Assembly on Oct. 17 to roughly $382 million in the latest version.

The team’s contribution would go up by about $10 million, to a total of about $110 million.

The local share of the costs would remain unchanged in the latest version, with the city of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County paying a combined $135 million.

The deal would also generate an estimated $14 million in revenue through a new ticket surcharge on non-Brewers events. The new tax would be $2 for events such as concerts or monster truck shows. Suite users would face an $8 ticket surcharge for non-baseball events.

While the latest plan passed the budget committee overwhelmingly, some GOP critics say it still puts too much burden on taxpayers, and the state Senate’s top Democrat said this week she’s not prepared to support the bill without additional changes.

A similar bill passed the Assembly last month. While Republicans hold big majorities in the Legislature, it would have failed without support from Democrats.