By Neil Johnson - March 23rd 2023
JANESVILLE
Gov. Tony Evers’ $3.8 billion capital budget was rejected by the State Building Commission on Thursday, including a $15 million ask for funding for the proposed Woodman’s Sports and Convention Center in Janesville.
The state panel deadlocked 4-4 on party lines on Evers’ capital budget proposal, with Republican members voting against the governor’s entire capital budget, pushing Evers’ entire plan to the state’s Legislative budget committee with no recommendations.
Dan Cunningham, vice president of Forward Janesville, the city’s main chamber of commerce, on Thursday called the move “generally expected.”
Boosters for the proposed Woodman’s Center, a $50 million, two-sheet ice arena and convention center at the Uptown Janesville mall, said they’ll now lobby legislators in the Joint Finance Committee to include $15 million Evers had committed to in his capital plan.
Evers in February told Janesville city officials and private stakeholders he’d include $15 million in his executive budget for the Woodman’s Center, a 130,000-square-foot project.
The city of Janesville has committed to borrow up to $17.3 million for the project, and Friends of the Woodman Center, a private booster group, has gathered $7 million in private commitments.
Evers in a release on Thursday decried the commission’s deadlocked vote, saying his package represents “one of the strongest investments to date” for Wisconsin’s infrastructure, which he said would bring 45,000 jobs across 28 counties.
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