On March 20th, the Chamber, along with the Post-Crescent, is hosting a FREE forum for the two candidates for Outagamie County Executive: incumbent Tom Nelson and challenger Kevin Sturn. The forum will be moderated by staff from the Chamber and newspaper, but we need your input on what we should ask!
Please send questions to [email protected] by next Thursday 3/16. Questions can address any topic of interest to Outagamie County and the Fox Cities region. Please craft your questions for both candidates to give a response.
We would also love for you to attend in person! The forum will run from 7:30-9:00 a.m. and you can register at no cost here: 2023 Public Policy Series #1: Outagamie County Executive Forum – Mar 20, 2023 – Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce
State Budget Talks Still Ongoing
The sparring between Governor Tony Evers and Republican legislative leaders continued this week, as Speaker Robin Vos declared Evers’s plan to provide taxpayer dollars to the Milwaukee Brewers for stadium maintenance “dead”.
The Democrat governor’s proposal would have given $290 million in taxpayer dollars from the general fund to complete maintenance projects on the stadium over the next 20 years. In exchange, the team would extend their lease on the stadium 13 years to 2043.
Vos would prefer something closer to the deal worked out with the Milwaukee Bucks, where half of the $500 million project cost was covered by taxpayers. The public cost was also split between the state and Milwaukee, which included state bonding, reducing shared revenue, and borrowing by the Wisconsin Center District. Evers’s proposal would be a one-time cash grant.
The state’s fiscal year ends on June 30th, though there is no requirement to pass a budget before the year ends.
Millions More Pour Into Supreme Court Race
Yesterday, the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce released a new ad against Judge Janet Protasiewicz. In Total, WMC has reserved $3.2 million in TV ads between now and the April 4th election. However, Protasiewicz and her third-party allies still dominate the airwaves, with over $6 million in ads reserved, compared to roughly $3.5 million among allies of former-Justice Dan Kelly.
