Report: Bucks arena deal expected to pass Wisconsin Senate on Wednesday

The Milwaukee Bucks are inching closer to securing their long-term future in the state of Wisconsin.

Sen. Lena Taylor said Tuesday that an agreement has been reached and that the plan for a new arena in downtown Milwaukee will pass the state Senate on Wednesday, according to a report from WITI Fox6 Milwaukee.

The Bucks are asking for $250 million in state funding toward a new, $500-million downtown arena facility, and they've been trying to sell the state on the social and economic benefits of a new arena. Gov. Scott Walker brought an official proposal forward in early June, but optimism dissipated quickly as implicit costs were examined and the proposal seemed to get lost in the larger state budget being ironed out.

The proposal was pulled from the state budget as a result, leaving the proposal to try to pass as a separate bill. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Tuesday that he wouldn't bring the proposal to a vote until he had the support, and it appears he's rounded up the requisite votes.

Between the new owners, outgoing owner Herb Kohl, and private financing initiatives, the Bucks are ready to contribute $250 million of their own, but some estimates suggest the real cost to the public after interest could reach $377 million.

Construction on a new facility would conceivably need to begin this year for an arena to open for the 2017-18 season, but it's possible approval from the Senate and state Assembly would be enough to quiet talks of moving the team. Otherwise, the team could move to Las Vegas or Seattle, something Bucks president Peter Feigin recently admitted but NBA commissioner Adam Silver downplayed in favor of optimism.