Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker defended his plan to invest $250 million in taxpayer dollars in a new basketball arena as "fiscally responsible" in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" this Sunday.
The owners of the Milwaukee Bucks had threatened to take the team to another state if they didn't have a new stadium by 2017, and have offered to finance half of the $500 million the arena will cost. Walker on Sunday said that the investment of $250 million in public funds was a good long-term bet, as it would protect the millions of dollars in income taxes the state collects from NBA players and staff that play and live there.
"For the state of Wisconsin, it's less than $4 million a year to protect $6.5 million we collect. And over the next 20 years, that grows to a total of just shy of $300 million the state collects in income taxes for less than $80 million," he said. "I'd be a fool."
