(The Center Square) – Only 10 U.S. senators voted against the bipartisan housing bill that restricts large institutional investors from buying up single family homes and requires investors to sell build-to-rent homes within seven years.
Those lawmakers also each received tens or sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2024 election-cycle campaign donations from groups whose profits could drop if the bill becomes law.
Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.; Todd Young, R-Ind.; Mike Lee, R-Utah; Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Rick Scott, R-Fla.; Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii; Rand Paul, R-Ky.; Ted Budd, R-N.C.; Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.; all opposed the 21st Century Road to Housing Act.
Their donors include private equity firms, large institutional investors in single family homes, organizations that develop build-to-rent communities, and companies that secure financing for those organizations.
Some senators also received funds from rental housing advocates who publicly opposed the housing bill due to its proposed restrictions.
Due to campaign financing rules, organizations themselves do not donate to the politicians. Instead, their political action committees and employees make the contributions.
Receiving campaign donations from a PAC does not prove that a lawmaker votes or acts according to donor interests. All data is pulled from political donation tracker OpenSecrets.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.:
Tillis’ donor profile shows he received at least $468,916 in campaign contributions from large institutional investors and other interested parties.
His top donor was Blackstone Group, one of the most prominent players in the single-family home rental market. Capital Group Companies, Koch Inc., Rock Holdings, and other organizations donated as well.
Tillis did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment.
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind.:
Young received at least $291,755 including from large institutional investors Capital Group Companies and KKR &Co. Multiple advocacy groups that oppose the housing bill’s build-to-rent restrictions, such as the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit), also made donations.
A spokesperson for Young told The Center Square that Young’s vote was not influenced by those donations, but rather “was based on additional changes he hopes can be made to the package to address the clear barriers to building more housing, including encouraging localities to look critically at burdensome zoning regulations.”
The spokesperson also referred to a bipartisan bill Young introduced, the Identifying Regulatory Barriers to Housing Supply Act, that addresses those issues.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah:
Lee received at least $159,459 from potentially impacted organizations, including Blackstone, KKR &Co., and Koch Inc.
A spokesperson for Lee said that the senator “votes according to his own convictions – in this case, because the bill expanded HUD programs eliminated in previous budget requests by President Trump, directed taxpayer dollars to progressive advocacy networks, pushed the federal government further into local zoning and land-use decisions, and failed to deliver the extensive reforms federal public housing programs require.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas:
Cruz received at least $145,752 from large institutional investors and other potentially impacted parties, including Maury L Carter & Associates, KKR &Co., Blackstone.
In a statement to The Center Square, Cruz laid out multiple reasons why he voted against the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, including zoning changes in the bill and the impact he thinks the build-to-rent restrictions could have on housing supply.
“Lowering housing costs for all Americans is a priority for this Republican Congress, but this bill fell far short of that goal. Although this legislation prevents the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), it only pauses the development until December 31, 2030. My Anti-CBDC Act takes the correct approach by permanently prohibiting the Federal Reserve from ever issuing a CBDC, directly or indirectly. I agree with President Trump that large banks should not be buying single-family homes. Unfortunately, this legislation goes beyond that principle and restricts those hoping to build new rental housing for Americans by requiring build-to-rent homes to be sold within seven years. Restricting the supply of newly built rental units should not be enshrined in law,” Cruz said.
“Additionally, giving the Department of Housing and Urban Development authority to develop zoning and land-use frameworks raises serious concerns. Washington bureaucrats should not dictate zoning decisions for local communities like my hometown of Houston,” Cruz added. “The bill also risked giving a future Democratic administration the ability to impose policies like a rent moratorium by granting the Treasury Secretary broad authority to rewrite key provisions through the regulatory state. I remain optimistic that House Financial Services Chairman French Hill can address these significant concerns through the conference process. I look forward to working toward a final product that actually makes housing more affordable for all Americans instead of expanding the government’s authority to regulate who buys homes.”
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.:
Scott received at least $135,795 from organizations involved in the build-to-rent sector, including Koch Inc. and Blackstone.
Scott did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment.
In early March, he introduced a bill that would create untaxed savings accounts for Americans saving up for a down payment on their first home.
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii:
Schatz received at least $131,500 from organizations that oppose the bill due to its build-to-rent provisions, including the Mortgage Bankers Association, as well as Rock Holdings.
Schatz did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment.
Schatz had previously told lawmakers that the institutional investor provisions would “demonize people who want to build rental housing for folks.”
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.:
Paul received at least $89,028 from organizations that could suffer adverse impacts from the bill’s build-to-rent restrictions.
Paul did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment.
In a March social media article, Paul said the bill was equivalent to “the surrender of property and contract rights.”
Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C.:
Budd received at least $83,525 from interested or potentially impacted groups, including Blackstone, Koch Inc., and the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Budd did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment.
He introduced a bill in February that would widen eligibility requirements for the federal Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.:
Johnson received at least $81,662 from institutional investors, including Rock Holdings and Koch Inc.
A spokeswoman for Johnson told The Center Square that “Neither the Senator nor anyone in his office was contacted by those donors.”
“His vote was not influenced by those donations or donors. He voted against the bill for several reasons – many of them laid out in the WSJ column cited below,” she added. “The Senator does not like the government imposing itself into the marketplace and artificially reducing the demand, the number of buyers, and the price homeowners can obtain when they sell their homes.”
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.:
Tuberville received at least $48,650 in contributions from real estate investment groups that might be adversely impacted by the legislation, including Jim Wilson & Associates.
He did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment.
Tuberville had previously explained that his ‘no’ vote on the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act was not because he opposed the bill, but because he believed the Senate should focus on passing the SAVE America Act – an unrelated Republican voter ID bill – before addressing issues like housing.
What about House lawmakers?
The U.S. House has yet to take up the Senate-passed legislation, but cautionary comments from lawmakers like Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., and Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., indicate the bill will face a tough crowd in the lower chamber.

(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association will not be subject to open meetings and public records requirements after Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a bill that would have added that requirement.
The private organization that governs high school athletics for the state’s public and private schools fought the legislation, saying it is private and does not accept tax money.
“I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object the Wisconsin State Legislature forcing a private entity to abide by and comply with the very state public records laws from which the Legislature exempts itself,” Evers wrote. “By the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association’s own testimony, the organization is committed to transparency, and much of their information is already publicly available.”
Former Gov. Scott Walker vetoed a similar bill in 2015 and Evers vetoed one in 2021 as well.
Proponents of the bill, however, argued that the organization does not make important information available to the public and does not provide enough information when it makes eligibility rulings in particular.
lawmakers that passed the bill argue that the WIAA needs more transparency on its decision-making authority over public high school athletes and schools.
“WIAA’s membership is made up of schools whose boards are subject to open records and open meetings laws, but WIAA is not,” Sen. Cory Tomczyk, R-Mosinee, said in testimony on the bill. “When taxpayer dollars are involved, proceedings should be open and honest. While WIAA receives no taxpayer funds, it uses taxpayer funded facilities and is a fixture in our public school system. While exempting referee and pupil records to keep their personal information safe, SB 16 aims to bring to light what is going on behind the scenes at WIAA and increase transparency between the organization and its members, students, and parents.”
The WIAA’s Executive Director Stephanie Hauser told a committee that the group’s eligibility decisions can become controversial and “I think we’re going to get pummeled with them” regarding public records requests.
“This legislation advances even though the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the WIAA is not a government or quasi-government entity,” the WIAA said in a statement after the vote. “SB 16 imposes burdens typically meant for public offices, and we are concerned this will disrupt our ability to effectively serve our member schools and student-athletes.”

(The Center Square) – The Republican Party of Dane County is condemning political violence after a 31-year-old Madison woman was arrested and accused of shooting and killing her former co-worker in a downtown Madison parking garage.
The criminal complaint stated that 31-year-old Diamond Wallace, who is charged with first degree intentional homicide and possession of a firearm after a felony conviction, worked with 61-year-old victim Christine Jones at a Madison hotel until April 2025.
After that, police believe that Wallace slashed Jones’ tires after accusing Jones of being racist because she supported President Donald Trump, according to WKOW.
It was not clear what motivated the shooting.
“RPDC condemns this killing in the strongest possible terms,” the group said in a statement. “No grievance, no workplace conflict, no personal resentment ever excuses violence. Ever. Some will be tempted to turn this tragedy into a partisan argument or to deflect towards national political debates. We reject that impulse. It is about a woman in Dane County who lost her life.
“We urge every Dane County resident, regardless of background or belief, to recommit to the most basic civic shared responsibility: treating one another as human beings worthy of dignity, safety, and respect for one another.”
Wallace’s cash bail was set at $2 million at a Wednesday hearing, when Wallace appeared via Zoom.
Wallace has a pretrial hearing set for 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Dane County Courthouse.
“As this case moves through the justice system, we call on community leaders, elected officials, and residents alike to reflect on how we can rebuild a culture of respect, accountability, and compassion,” the party said. “Dane County deserves better. Our neighbors deserve better. We must all do better. Be better humans. Choose decency. Reject violence.”
Wallace’s previous felony conviction was from a 2019 charge where Wallace pleaded guilty to resisting an officer with substantial bodily harm and soft tissue injury.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin voters believe that the cost of data centers outweigh the benefits with 69% of those responding to a recent Marquette Poll saying as much.
That’s after 70% said the same thing in a February poll.
One change in those numbers was that more Republicans now oppose data centers while fewer Democrats are now in opposition.
The University of Marquette Law School poll asked 850 registered voters about their preferences from March 11-18.
Large-scale data center projects have popped up across the state in recent years with the tax incentives often hidden in tax increment districts and waiving sales tax on construction materials, something that has led to that $70 million in forgone sales tax in its first two years.
Data centers in Mount Pleasant, Verona, Beaver Dam and Port Washington have been certified by the state to be eligible for the sales tax exemption.
Several bills looking to limit the impact of data centers on energy rates and one looking to block non-disclosure agrees that was backed by comedian Charlie Berens were discussed but did not pass the Legislature before session closed.

(The Center Square) – One of Wisconsin’s Democratic candidates for governor is facing questions about his to-do list if he’s elected.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley released his plan for his first month in office if he is elected in November.
“Repeal Act 10; close the special education funding gap; pass universal pre-K and child care utilizing the existing providers already serving Wisconsin families; open BadgerCare as a public health option for every Wisconsin family; strengthen and fund domestic violence prevention and crisis support across rural and urban Wisconsin,” Crowley posted on social media. “Republicans have had years. I’m starting on day one.”
Crowley is not the only Democratic candidate pitching an end to Act-10 and a public health care option.
Mandela Barnes made a similar pledge to end Act-10.
“It’s time to repeal Act 10 and make Wisconsin a union state again,” Barnes wrote Wednesday.
Candidate Joel Brennan also proposed a public option health care plan earlier this week. And candidate Kelda Roys pitched a similar idea last month.
Kyle Koenen with the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty warned, however, that Crowley’s plan will come with a massive price tag.
“Affordability is on the ballot this fall, and this agenda will cost Wisconsinites billions annually,” Koenen wrote in response to Crowley’s list. “Repealing Act 10 is projected to cost the state at least $2 billion per year. Expanding Badgercare would drive up health care costs for all other Wisconsinites.”
The MacIver Institute has reported that Act-10 has saved Wisconsin taxpayers more than $35 billion since 2011. If it is struck down with the liberal-majority Wisconsin Supreme Court, WILL has said those savings will almost immediately disappear.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin voters are concerned about affordability in all of their lives, including in funding schools.
Seventy-five percent of registered voters said that they were very concerned with inflation and the cost of living while 63% were very concerned with health insurance, 60% with jobs and the economy, 57% with the affordability of housing, 52% with public schools, 51% with illegal immigration and border security and 47% with property taxes in a recent Marquette Poll.
The University of Marquette Law School poll asked 850 registered voters about their preferences from March 11-18.
The poll also showed that Republicans were much more concerned with immigration and border security than Democrats or independents and Republicans were also more concerned with property taxes.
Democrats were more concerned than Republicans about gun violence, inflation, affordability of housing and health insurance.
Overall 35% said they were most concerned with inflation and the cost of living while 14% said illegal immigration and border security, 11% said health insurance, 9% said jobs and the economy, 7% said property taxes and 6% said the affordability of housing.
Fifty-eight percent of those polled said that they are more concerned about property taxes than funding for K-12 public schools while 41% said the opposite. That’s a change from the 60% that said they were more concerned about property taxes in February.
School spending has been a large campaign issue after Gov. Tony Evers’ partial veto that meant a $325 per student per year funding increase for the next 400 years. Voters said that they believe Evers’ power went too far and a November statewide vote on a proposed constitutional amendment will decide if the governor’s partial veto power will remain.
Fifty-two percent said that the veto will require annual tax increases while 48% said they felt the move was necessary to support public schools.
Forty-eight percent said they would vote for a referendum to fund the schools in their community while 51% said they would vote against it.
And, as lawmakers debate the potential of spending what is projected to be a $2.3 billion budget surplus by the end of this budget cycle, 52% of voters said that they would prefer an increase in state aid to schools than a one-time payment to taxpayers.

(The Center Square) – Judge Maria Lazar said she is disappointed that she didn’t get a chance to debate Wednesday in the race for Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, but she is not worried.
Lazar said postponing the debate with Judge Chris Taylor may help her.
“That’s okay,” Lazar said in an interview on News Talk 1130 WISN. “I think this delay is actually going to light a fire under everyone to go out and vote now.”
Taylor postponed the debate to recover from kidney stones.
“This afternoon Judge Taylor was diagnosed with kidney stones and will rest and recover for the next couple days before returning to the campaign trail,” Taylor’s campaign said in a statement. “Judge Taylor will soon launch a statewide tour to meet voters across Wisconsin and we are committed to rescheduling today’s debate next week on a date that works for WISN, debate partners, and our opponent’s campaign.”
WISN TV now says the debate will be April 2, five days before Election Day.
“So that was my opportunity, last night, to talk about me and this race. It’s okay, it doesn’t matter. I think this lights a fire. I think people are going to get out and vote,” Lazar added. “I know people think that she’s putting this off because she thinks she’s winning, and that way she doesn’t have to talk. She’s had that strategy this whole campaign.”
Taylor’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment from The Center Square.
The debate was supposed to come just one day after the latest Marquette Law School Poll showed Taylor with an 8-point lead over Lazar. But the poll also showed that 46% of voters say they have not yet made-up their minds.
“She spent almost $2.5 million, and $1 million during the Olympics, and the people of Wisconsin have said they don’t like her. They don’t want her. And they want to hear about me,” Lazar said.

(The Center Square) – A Wisconsin Supreme Court debate scheduled for Wednesday night was delayed after candidate Chris Taylor said that she could not attend after “feeling unwell” and visiting urgent care.
“Physicians then recommended she visit the hospital for additional evaluation,” Taylor’s campaign said in a statement. “While she is unable to participate in tonight’s debate, we look forward to rescheduling and finding an opportunity for voters to hear from both candidates before Election Day.”
The debate Wednesday night was the first scheduled debate heading into the April 7 election. Early voting has begun in the race.
Taylor’s campaign said that an update on her condition will be released when it is available.
Taylor, a former Democratic state representative, widened her margin of lead over conservative Maria Lazar with 23% of voters compared to Lazar’s 17% in a Marquette Poll released on Tuesday.
“While we hope Chris Taylor gets well soon, votes are already being cast for this election,” Republican Party of Wisconsin Spokesperson Anika Rickard said in a statement. “This debate would allow Wisconsinites to hear Chris Taylor answer for her far-left record, and we hope it gets rescheduled soon.”
The court currently has four liberal members and three conservative justices and this election is to fill the seat of conservative Rebecca Bradley. Conservative Annette Ziegler has announced that she will not run again in 2027.

(The Center Square) – One of southeast Wisconsin’s congressmen says there is a clear path to victory in the war against Iran.
Republican Bryan Steil said he hopes negotiations can bring an end to the air strikes that have pummeled Iran for nearly a month, but he said the United States can’t walk away and allow Iran to continue to be a threat.
“The best case scenario is that the regime would fall and we would have reasonable leaders,” Steil said in an interview on News Talk 1130 WISN. “But let’s go one level below that. I think what we need to see is that Iran is not capable of developing a nuclear weapon, or the ability to deliver that with ballistic missiles. Second, we need to stop them from being a state sponsor of terrorism the activities.”
Steil said President Donald Trump has been clear that he doesn’t want to allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, just like every other modern president before him.
“Iran has been threatening the region and the United States through both their funding of terrorism largest state sponsor of terrorism in the globe, as well as their mission to try to develop not only a nuclear weapon but ballistic missiles,” Steil added. “The president is engaged in negotiations to make sure that the broader goal, again not sponsoring terrorism around not having a nuclear weapon that they could deliver with ballistic missiles, to be able to give all of us want to see peace in this region.”
Still, Steil did not say what victory in Iran should look like, or when the attacks should end.
“The activities that have taken by President Trump, in his role as commander-in-chief, have been to degrade Iran’s ability to develop that nuclear weapon, degrade their ability to develop missiles to deliver, and ultimately clip their wings on the financing side so they cannot continue to support terrorism around the globe,” Steil said. “I think what we will see is that part of the actions being successful.”
Wisconsin Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, however, worried that victory in Iran will come with a huge cost.
“The President just ordered 3,000 ground troops to be deployed to the Middle East,” Baldwin wrote on social media on Tuesday. “These are Americans’ sons and daughters who are at risk now because of this illegal war. Each day, we are getting closer to boots on the ground in Iran, and I’m doing everything I can to stop it.”

(The Center Square) – The Dairyland Sentinel is asking the Wisconsin Department of Justice to intervene in what it believes is an unfulfilled public records request.
The publication has continued to request a contract between the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and Forward Exam test contractor Data Recognition Corp. related to a standards-setting conference in the summer of 2024 in the Wisconsin Dells that would have justified DRC’s use of non-disclosure agreements with conference attendees.
The contract was first requested in January 2025 and again in February. Dairyland Sentinel Publisher Brian Fraley asked DOJ to intervene in the matter based upon guidance that Attorney General Josh Kaul published last year.
“DPI has tried to convince reporters that this issue has been settled,” Fraley told The Center Square. “It has not.”
Fraley’s initial report on the conference led Wisconsin’s Joint Committee on Finance to delay a $1 million funding request to DPI with the committee later releasing $1.75 million to the department after the committee asked questions about the conference.
DPI then released a list breaking down specific costs to WisPolitics, not to Dairyland Sentinel or The Center Square.
Fraley said that he initially filed the request after reading DPI Superintendent Jill Underly’s guest column noting that changes to the state’s Forward Exam standards were the result of a 100-person advisory committee, not decisions made by DPI.
“This is the most impactful education policy change in a decade and it’s clouded with secrecy,” Fraley said.
“This is a massive public policy decision that has impacted every single parent of school-aged kids in Wisconsin, whether they attend public school or not, because every single parent is empowered to determine what’s the best school for their kids and one of the factors they use is test scores and how they relate to the state benchmark.”
Fraley said that there is likely to be more that will still come from the meeting, including the Institute for Reforming Government’s belief that the committee constitutes an ad hoc committee, meaning the meetings should have been noticed, public and minutes should have been kept.
IRG recently requested that a special committee be formed to look into the conference.
Fraley then noted that a later DPI conference on federal funding advised school district that they could use federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funding to attend the conference, also held in the Wisconsin Dells.
He cited federal uniform grant guidance stating that grant spending must be “necessary and reasonable” and that the federal government could audit local school districts for that use of IDEA funds.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin voters will be able to end the governor’s partial veto power on the November ballot and a poll released on Tuesday indicates that voters believe the power goes too far.
The Marquette Law School Poll asked registered voters if they believe that governors should be able to significantly change the effect of legislation with a partial veto and 61% said that gives the governor too much power while 39% believe that is an appropriate amount of power for a governor.
The University of Marquette Law School poll asked 850 registered voters about their preferences from March 11-18.
The proposed constitutional amendment comes after Gov. Tony Evers used the current veto power to erase numbers and a hyphen to change the year “2024-25” to “2425” in a school appropriation in the budget bill.
That meant a $325 per student per year funding increase for the next 400 years was allowed and later upheld in a 4-3 ruling from the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
“Wisconsin governors have long had the power to cast a partial veto of budget legislation,” the poll asked voters. “This allows them to strike out individual words or sentences, in some cases significantly changing the effect of the legislation. Do you think this is an appropriate power for governors to have, or does it give too much power to governors to change the intent of the legislature?”

(The Center Square) – Tom Tiffany remains the clear favorite to be the Republican nominee for Wisconsin governor with 40% support compared to just 6% for Andy Manske, while Francesca Hong has the most support with 14% in a Democratic primary where 65% of voters say that they remain undecided.
The University of Marquette Law School poll asked 850 registered voters about their preferences from March 11-18. The gubernatorial primary is set for August. 11 with the general election on Nov. 3.
Hong, a state representative from Madison, is ahead of former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (11%), Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley (3%), Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez (3%), businessman Joel Brennan (2%), state Rep. Kelda Roys (1%) and former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO Missy Hughes (1%).
“Most of these Democratic candidates are very little known right now,” said Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll.
Barnes had the most name recognition with only 44% saying they haven’t heard enough about him while Rodriguez was at 68%, Hong at 72%, Crowley at 76% and the rest had more than 80% of respondents saying that they did not know enough.

(The Center Square) – Judge Chris Taylor, a former Democratic state representative, widened her margin of lead over conservative Maria Lazar with 23% of voters compared to Lazar’s 17% with two weeks remaining before the state’s April 7 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, though 53% of the voters say they remain undecided.
The University of Marquette Law School poll asked 850 registered voters about their preferences from March 11-18.
“People were much more aware of the court race last year than this year,” said Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll.
The court currently has four liberal members and three conservative justices and this election is to fill the seat of conservative Rebecca Bradley. Conservative Annette Ziegler has announced that she will not run again in 2027.
“There’s obviously a lot of room for change in these last two weeks,” Franklin said. “We don’t usually have this many people undecided this close to an election.”
Franklin said that Taylor has an even larger advantage over Lazar amongst registered voters who said they were likely to vote in the race with 30% supporting Taylor and 22% supporting Lazar.

(The Center Square) – As the Milwaukee Brewers get ready to start a new season, the future of a new ballpark addition remains up in the air.
Brewers President of Baseball Operations Rick Schlesinger on Tuesday said they are likely a long way away from even making a decision on a so-called beer district.
“That’s probably a long-time planning,” Schlesinger said during an interview on News Talk 1130 WISN. “We’ve had a number of discussions with potential developers. The conditions to do it have to make sense, both economically and we have to do something that works with the neighborhood…I wouldn’t say anything is imminent, but we’re doing a lot of research and analysis.”
The possible district would be loosely modeled after the Milwaukee Bucks’ Deer District. Plans could include a hotel, bars, restaurants, and even office and apartment space.
Schlesinger said in addition to being mindful of American Family Field’s neighbors, he also wants to be mindful of Brewer fans and their tailgating tradition.
“We do have a tailgating culture, and we also love the convenience for fans of having so many parking spaces,” Schlesinger added.
But he also said American Family Field is not in the city’s center, like Wrigley Field in Chicago or Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
“We don’t have a lot of people who can walk to the ballpark,” he said. “So, we need to make sure that we are accommodating fans who come to the ballpark for games, as well as figure out a way to figure out a way for commercial, residential, and industrial real estate development that makes sense for the neighborhood.”
The Brewers are required to study a beer district as part of the 2023 state law that guaranteed American Family Field’s owner, the Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District, nearly $379 million in state money.
An early draft of that study suggests it could cost as much as $821 million to build the new district.
The Brewers are opening a new patio area at the ballpark this year, but it will be built along an empty walkway just outside of Am Fam Field.
Schlesinger said that patio will open a temporary space later this summer and be fully open sometime next year.

(The Center Square) – As voters get ready to cast their votes in Wisconsin’s April election, there is a reminder about just what’s on the ballot.
Brittany Kinser, who ran for Wisconsin State Superintendent last year, has a new op-ed that explains how important local school board elections are.
“School board members and school board candidates are the largest elected official body in our entire country,” Kinser said during an interview Monday on News Talk 1130 WISN. “And they are the ones deciding so many important things for our schools.”
Kinser said the main job of a school board is to make sure that students are reading, writing, and doing math proficiently.
But in Wisconsin, most school students are not.
“Only one in three kids in Wisconsin are,” Kinser explained. “That means two out of three kids are not [reading proficiently.]”
Kinser said one of the biggest challenges for voters is that many voters don’t know who the candidates are or what those candidates want for local schools. But she suggested some questions voters could ask.
“I would ask, especially coming from Kids Win, where we’re focusing on literacy, ‘Do you know the current third grade literacy rate in our district?’” Kinser said. “Then I would ask ‘What systems will you put in place to monitor progress, celebrate growth, and move us towards 95% of students reading proficiently?’ So right there they’re going to be able to tell you whether or not they’re aware of academic results, are they focused on the kids, and then what are they going to do.”
Kinser’s website, KidsWin.org has reading proficiency scores for every school district in the state.
She also said parents should look into the science of reading and ask if their school board candidates are familiar with it.
Early voting for Wisconsin’s spring election begins Tuesday. Election Day is April 7.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed a bill Monday that would send $72 million to the state’s FoodShare program along with banning candy and soda purchases in Wisconsin’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The bill was a compromise between Evers and Republican legislative leaders as Evers claimed that the state was at risk of going over a 6% error rate on SNAP Program benefits, which would incur more than $200 million in federal penalties. Wisconsin had a 4.47% payment error rate as of late 2024–2025.
“After months of urging and asking the Legislature to approve these funds, I am glad to be able to sign this bill today so we can continue to provide for the over 700,000 Wisconsinites who rely on FoodShare and depend on the state to support this critical program and keep our error rates low,” Evers said in a statement. “In spite of the chaos at the federal level and the continued attacks on our FoodShare program, I am proud of the work my administration has done over the past year to ensure our kids, families, veterans, and seniors across our state receive the resources they need to access basic food and groceries.”
Legislative leaders like Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, questioned whether the state was actually at risk of going over 6% on its error rate.
“We have asked him to show us the data and he hasn’t,” Kapenga told Badger Institute. “But that’s the way he has always operated.”
The Assembly passed the latest version of the bill, 71-22, while the Senate passed the bill 25-8.