From lease extensions through league pronouncements, we've been talking about the Milwaukee Bucks' plans to build a new arena to replace the BMO Harris Bradley Center for years. As the recently rebranded Bucks prepare to host the Chicago Bulls at their nearly-27-year-old building in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series on Thursday, negotiations surrounding the club's $1 billion proposal for a "public-private partnership" that would fund a new arena and surrounding development project in downtown Milwaukee seem to be coming to a head, and the franchise's future in Wisconsin could hang in the balance.

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State, city and county legislators will meet with representatives from the Bucks and the office of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at the state capitol in Madison on Wednesday to discuss the project, according to Rich Kirchen of the Milwaukee Business Journal. The goal of the talks: to "sit down and solve for the publicly funded money," as Bucks president Peter Feigin told Kirchen Tuesday.

Hedge-fund billionaires Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry bought the Bucks from longtime owner and former U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl for a reported $550 million last year. As part of their purchase, they committed $150 million toward the construction of a new arena. Outgoing owner Kohl also committed $100 million to the project.

The problem: the Bucks' proposed new gym — complete with "Atomic Age-swoop," "soft, fluid form" and "dramatically curved roof" — is expected to carry a price tag of $500 million, meaning Edens, Lasry and company only get halfway to the finish line with their commitments. This, of course, has led ownership to look to state and local government, and the citizens of Wisconsin, for a helping hand.

Gov. Walker has proposed the state issue $220 million in bonds to help cover the costs, with debts incurred from the bond sales later repaid "with increased income taxes from NBA players in the coming years," according to Kirchen. Under Walker's plan, the city of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County would combine to cover the remaining $30 million. Thus far, according to Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has offered more than $18 million in infrastructure and land toward the project, but no money, while while Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele "has not offered anything concrete yet."

In a political climate in which public funding of arenas and the long-term effect of such funding on local economies have come under increased scrutiny — President Barack Obama's 2016 federal budget proposal calls for barring the use of tax-exempt bonds to finance professional sports facilities, a move that would close one major loophole but might not actually curtail the practice of owners seeking public subsidies — the Wisconsin legislature has pushed back against Walker's proposal.

View photos Wisconsin legislators are resisting Gov. Scott Walker's $220 million arena funding proposal. More

State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos have promoted a plan that would raise $150 million in state funds via financing through Wisconsin's Board of Commissioners of Public Lands. They argue that $220 million is a bridge too far.

The joint $150 million plan isn't a slam dunk, though. For one thing, the land commissioners earlier this month "remained cautious since they have yet to receive key specifics about the possible deal from lawmakers and the Walker administration," according to Walker of the Journal Sentinel, and the board "would need to sell some of its existing holdings of municipal loans to get the cash needed for a Bucks deal," which could have concerning ripple effects.

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