State funding to reimburse public safety costs incurred by Green Bay, Ashwaubenon and Brown County during the 2025 NFL Draft will not be included in the 2025 state budget after the Joint Committee on Finance voted June 12 on shared revenue and tax relief motions.

The Democratic members of the budget committee included $1 million in funding to reimburse the City of Green Bay for NFL Draft public safety costs in their shared revenue and tax relief motion. The funding was not included in the Republican members’ motion, which was adopted on a party-line vote.

Providing state funding to support high costs incurred at the local level to host the NFL Draft, which was projected to bring $94 million into the state economy, had been advocated for by Gov. Tony Evers in his budget proposal, as well as by State Reps. David Steffen, R-Howard, and Ben Franklin, R-De Pere.

Public safety was a strong success for Green Bay’s turn hosting the NFL Draft, with only one arrest made within the draft campus over the entire three-day event.

State Sen. Jamie Wall, D-Green Bay, said he was disappointed by the exclusion of funding in a June 13 news release.

“I am disappointed that my Republican colleagues refused to recognize that our community’s investment in public safety during the NFL Draft benefitted all of Wisconsin. Despite recent public commitments by Representatives Franklin and Steffen, our local property taxpayers are now stuck with the bill,” Wall said. “I am incredibly proud of the job our local law enforcement and public safety professionals did during the draft. Our visitors were safe, and our community put on a very successful event with a huge economic impact across the state.”

Steffen told the Green Bay Press-Gazette that local municipalities still have a chance to receive state funding for the draft. While it won’t be included through the budget committee, Steffen said, the city and county have applied for a Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation Opportunity Fund grant, which is still pending.

“We’ve always had a two-pronged approach to this reimbursement effort,” Steffen said. “We expect an answer on (the grant) in the next two to three weeks. And so there is still a very good possibility of having these expenses related to the NFL Draft being covered in part by state funding.”

The grant application is more comprehensive that the budget motion, Steffen said, and is closer to $2 million in total. It is still unclear how much would be received, he said, but “there’s actually possibility for more money from this process” than through the Joint Committee on Finance.

“We still have an opportunity to have the state assist with this,” Steffen said. “It’s always more difficult to secure funding when a request comes in after an event versus ensuring you have before the event is even committed to.”

Brown County hoped the region would get better news on the budget request based on the NFL Draft’s estimated statewide economic impact, County Executive Troy Streckenbach said. He thanked both Gov. Tony Evers and local legislators for including the funding in their respective budget proposals, but expects the community will have to seek other funding sources.

“There’s hope, but not through the budget process based on (the) Joint Finance Committee vote, based on the news we’re receiving,” Streckenbach said.

Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich and Green Bay Metro Fire Chief Matthew Knott declined to comment on the funding’s exclusion from the budget. Green Bay Police Chief Chris Davis was unavailable for comment June 13.

Brown County Sheriff Todd Delain, Ashwaubenon Village Manager Joel Gregozeski, Village Board President Mary Kardoskee and Franklin did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Reporter Jeff Bollier contributed to this article.

Vivian Barrett is the public safety reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach her at vmbarrett@greenbay.gannett.com or (920) 431-8314. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @vivianbarrett_.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Funding for NFL Draft public safety costs excluded from state budget