U.S. Senate candidate Tom Nelson on Friday called for the family of fellow Democratic candidate Alex Lasry and other Milwaukee Bucks co-owners to return hundreds of millions they received in taxpayer funds to build Fiserv Forum under a measure then-Rep. Mandela Barnes supported.
In calling the subsidy a ripoff for taxpayers, Nelson, the Outagamie County executive, continued to take aim at both Barnes and Lasry — the two candidates polling at the head of the Democratic U.S. Senate field.
“(Barnes is) getting a taste of his own medicine. … He votes for the subsidy, now the Lasry family is giving their son millions of dollars to run for the U.S. Senate,” Nelson said.
In 2015, Republican Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill committing hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars over 20 years to build the arena, which he said would be a “dynamic attraction for the entire state of Wisconsin.” The bill he signed passed overwhelmingly in both chambers.
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In a statement, Nelson spokesperson Irene Lin said Barnes voted in favor of the measure “even as community leaders called into question this outrageous giveaway to make the rich richer while the working class and poor continue to struggle in Milwaukee.”
Many Milwaukee leaders, including Democratic Rep. Jonathan Brostoff — who endorsed Barnes — and then-Milwaukee County Supervisor John Weishan opposed taxpayer money going toward the Bucks venture.
In an interview with La Crosse-based station WIZM, Lasry defended the legislation as a bipartisan measure that provided jobs to union laborers and Wisconsinites providing materials for the stadium.
“And now we’re seeing the economic impact of Fiserv Forum,” he said, adding that the Bucks’ championship run provided $3 million a day to Wisconsin. Lasry has long boasted about paying a $15 minimum wage for Fiserv Forum workers since 2020.
In response, Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council president Dan Bukiewicz, who endorsed Lasry, said Nelson’s insinuation that Fiserv Forum was a taxpayer dollar waste was troubling and called it an insult to the people who built the arena.
“I’m not sure how a candidate for U.S. Senate can claim to be ‘pro-worker’ while being against the creation of thousands of good paying union jobs that built and support the Fiserv Forum,” he said. “The investment in Fiserv has redefined downtown and created millions of dollars in surrounding development.”
But Nelson said he would like the Lasry family and other Bucks owners to pay back the taxpayer money.
“Democratic voters need to know whether Lasry and Barnes’ judgment about the use of public resources is still so warped as to justify these ripoffs,” he said in a statement. “If they truly want to show voters they understand the folly of these deals, I invite them to join me in calling for the Bucks ownership to repay taxpayers for our investments that added to billions to their net worth while leaving us taxpayers with crumbs.”
Lasry and Barnes had not responded to requests for comment.
Nelson, who trails Lasry and Barnes as well as state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski in the polls, has slammed Barnes before, saying he flip-flops on issues and tucks away his policy promises.
Asked his stance on health care policy at liberal group Our Wisconsin Revolution’s Democratic candidate forum, Nelson said, “I support Medicare for All. I do not support just a pathway to Medicare for All. I don’t bury it in one sentence on Page 10 of a supposed economic plan,” referencing Barnes’ statement that he supported “building a path to Medicare for All” on the fifth page of a small business plan Barnes released in February.
The Democratic U.S. Senate candidates will face off Aug. 9 in a contest to take on Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson in November.
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