PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — With the 2025 NFL Draft expected to draw as many as 240,000 people to the Green Bay area, a major focus has been on keeping those in attendance safe.
As part of his executive budget proposal, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers is asking the state to provide up to $1 million to the city of Green Bay for public safety costs related to the draft.
It’s something that’s been a massive push for area lawmakers, like Democratic State Senator Jamie Wall, who represents Green Bay.
Wall initially asked for $1.5 million to be given to not only the city of Green Bay, but also to Brown County and the village of Ashwaubenon.
“That’s still a win. Would I be happier if we had additional monies that would help out my folks in Ashwaubenon? Absolutely I would. There’s some conversations happening right now,” said Wall.
Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich says the city would work with Ashwaubenon and Brown County to disperse the funds amongst each other.
While numbers aren’t yet finalized, Genrich says the city expects to have to cover more than $1 million just in overtime shifts between Green Bay’s fire and police departments alone.
We’re thrilled to be able to host the NFL Draft here, but it’s a significant financial burden.
If the funds are ultimately kept in the budget, which the state legislature will be negotiating over the coming months, the money would be used as a reimbursement to the city. And if it’s scrapped from the budget:
“We are going to do everything that we can to cover those costs. We’ve made that commitment,” said Genrich. “But I think it would be fantastic if the legislature were to match or maybe even exceed what the governor has committed to this event.”
State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, provided a statement on where he stands on this item in the governor’s budget:
We have supported this before but since it is part of the budget we will go through the process of reviewing everything to ensure all the needs of the state are met and the details balance out.
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