A WI Senate panel that will discuss proposed legislation
today limiting the state's Stadium Board's ability to lease
equipment for Miller Park said that "they were in no hurry to
pass legislation that might kill the stadium deal" (Rabideau-
Silvers & Lamke, MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 3/17). If the
bill passes, Stadium Board Chair Robert Trunzo said that the
Board "will challenge" the legislation, "presumably in
court," according to the JOURNAL SENTINEL's Lamke & Rinard.
Trunzo was offered a six-week delay on a vote in exchange for
a promise of no leasing activity until mid-May, but he said
that "the board's power to lease is explicit in the original
stadium legislation," and that the board "might lease up to
$50 million worth of equipment" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL,
3/15). Meanwhile, if the lease legislation passes, $35M in
loans offered to the Brewers "are in jeopardy," according to
the JOURNAL SENTINEL's Lamke. The two charitable foundations
and Milwaukee businesses that offered the loans which helped
the Brewers meet their $90M obligation towards ballpark
construction, said "the pending legislation would change the
conditions that existed at the time they promised to make the
loans" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 3/16).
