Lawmakers more eager to spend our money than return it

It’s hard to see how this is a good deal for taxpayers. Leaders of the Wisconsin Legislature are feeling generous with our money as they unveil plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to keep the Brewers baseball team in Milwaukee. Republicans hope to spend more than $600 million in taxpayer money to fund improvements to American Family Field. That makes the $290 million Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers offered the team in his budget look like a real bargain. Under the new plan, $400 million would come from the state, in the form of a tax on player salaries. But taxpayers in Milwaukee would be hit even harder, with the city and county of Milwaukee paying more than $200 million toward the stadium improvements. The Brewers would kick in another $100 million. I am a Brewers fan, and want the team to stay in Milwaukee, but this is a pretty steep price for keeping the team in town through 2050. Notably, much of the money the team wants would not affect the stadium on game days. The team hopes to use some of the money to winterize the stadium, so they can hold more events there, like concerts. Lawmakers say there is urgency to get this deal done. It is unfortunate that when it comes to spending our taxes there is urgency, but these same lawmakers have shown no urgency to returning our tax money from that big state surplus.