TUE AM News: Parking structure inspections bill follows 2023 mall garage partial collapse; Evers urges approval of $4.3B capital budget, warning tariffs could drive up final costs

March 11, 2025

— A bipartisan group of lawmakers aims to require periodic engineering inspections of parking structures in Wisconsin, following the partial collapse of a shopping mall’s garage in early 2023.

In a co-sponsorship memo sent recently to other lawmakers, the bill authors note the collapse at the Bayshore Mall in Glendale happened during the lunch rush, putting shoppers in danger. No one was hurt, though two cars were heavily damaged and dozens of others were stuck in the garage for several days. The parking garage reopened about five months later.

The memo also references an earlier incident from 2010, where a panel fell from a parking garage in Milwaukee, killing a 15-year-old named Jared Kellner and injuring two other people.

The bill is being circulated by Reps. Dave Maxey, R-New Berlin, Bob Donovan, R-Greenfield, and Darrin Madison, D-Milwaukee, as well as Sens. Cory Tomczyk, R-Mosinee, Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, and Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee.

They say the latest collapse “highlights a critical gap in state law — parking garages aren’t required to undergo periodic safety inspections after they’re built.”

Parking garages currently fall under the state’s commercial building code, which only requires inspections be done after construction, alterations or a safety complaint, according to the memo.

The authors argue the lack of “regular” post-construction inspections are “leaving parking garages vulnerable to deterioration” from constant use. They make a comparison to how state law treats bridges, which are inspected every two to four years.

Under their legislation, owners of parking structures would be required to hire a professional engineer to inspect the parking structure at least once within the five years after the bill takes effect, and once every five years after that. Owners would have to report on the inspections’ findings to the Department of Safety and Professional Services, or to local officials if they’re authorized to conduct such assessments.

Owners that don’t follow these new requirements would be fined $200 per month starting six months after the required inspection date, the memo shows. If no inspection is conducted by 12 months after that date, DSPS would be directed to close the parking structure.

The co-sponsorship deadline is 5 p.m. Friday.

See the memo.

— Gov. Tony Evers pitched his $4.3 billion capital budget as a critical step to address the state’s aging infrastructure while building for Wisconsin’s future.

He also warned putting off the projects could drive up the final costs amid President Donald Trump’s push for tariffs with American trading partners.

Meanwhile, the GOP co-chairs of the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee called the plan another example of the Dem guv’s “irresponsible spending.”

The big-ticket items in Evers’ proposal include nearly $1.6 billion in work at Universities of Wisconsin campuses and more than $493 million for the construction costs of his previously announced plan to revamp the state’s Corrections system.

“We can’t afford to kick the can down the road on key infrastructure projects across our state, most especially as the cost of building materials may only get more expensive with each day of delay due to potential tariff taxes and trade wars,” Evers said yesterday.

Two years ago, Evers proposed a $3.7 billion capital budget that Republican lawmakers pared back to $2.3 billion.

See more at WisPolitics.

— GOP lawmakers are circulating a proposal that would direct the Department of Health Services to seek a waiver that would allow the state to bar the purchase of candy and soft drinks through the FoodShare program.

If the feds rejected the waiver, DHS would have to resubmit the request annually until it was granted.

Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, and Reps. Clint Moses, R-Menomonie, Dan Knodl, R-Germantown, and Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah, recently sent a co-sponsorship memo on the bill to other lawmakers.

In it, they reference Wisconsin’s increasing rates of obesity and diabetes, arguing federal programs “that are supposed to help our population get healthier, are partially exacerbating these problems.”

The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, offers food benefits for low-income families. This support flows through the FoodShare program in Wisconsin, administered by DHS, which provided $1.5 billion in benefits in 2023, the memo shows. As of late 2024, more than 700,000 people in the state were enrolled in the program.

The bill’s authors acknowledge SNAP has “proven successful” at addressing food insecurity, but has no nutrition standards to ensure recipients are accessing healthy food. They note purchases of sweetened beverages, desserts and candy through the program exceed sales of fruits and vegetables by $400 million annually.

The memo references a USDA study that found soda is the No. 1 item bought with SNAP benefits and nearly $610 million in spent on “sugar-sweetened beverages” by recipients per year. It also points to other studies that found children and families on SNAP consume 43% more of these beverages than those not on the program.

“We can prioritize health, reduce health care costs, support local agriculture, and ensure that SNAP fulfills its mission of providing low-income families access to healthier options by not allowing the purchasing of candy or soft drinks with FoodShare benefits,” authors wrote.

Along with the memo, the lawmakers say they’re sending letters seeking support for the change from DHS Secretary Kirsten Johnson as well as HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins.

The co-sponsorship deadline is Friday.

— UW Health announced it will add dozens of intensive care beds at American Family Children’s Hospital to meet growing demand.

The Madison health system yesterday rolled out plans for expanding its pediatric intensive care unit, or PICU, and adding a cardiac intensive care unit, or CICU. The expansion will leverage unused space on the hospital’s 33,000-square-foot sixth floor, adding 14 rooms for medical surgical PICU patients and 10 rooms for CICU patients.

Under the plans, the 21-bed PICU will be modified to allow for “specialty care growth,” ranging from treating cancer and blood disorders to caring for patients with respiratory diseases during flu season.

Nikki Stafford, the hospital’s president and vice president of pediatric services at UW Health Kids, says the current PICU at the children’s hospital is often at capacity. In 2023, UW Health Kids “had to turn away over 100 kids for admission who were seeking care for the most complex and critical medical conditions” due to a lack of available beds, Stafford said in comments provided by the health system.

Over the last three years, the hospital has seen a 47% increase in cardiac inpatients and a 23% increase in pediatric cardiac surgical cases, according to Stafford. On average, 60% of PICU beds at the hospital are occupied by children getting cardiac treatment, underlining the rising demand for this type of care.

“The space that’s needed, as well as the care management, the level of expertise, is very different between pediatric general intensive care units and cardiac intensive care units,” Stafford said, adding having such a dedicated unit “is a best practice” for providing specialized heart care.

The planning and design phase of the project is expected to take up to six months, with construction slated to wrap up within about a year and a half. The health system aims to start delivering care in the new space in late 2027.

See the release.

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— The Water Council is joining the MMAC as an affiliate organization.

The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce yesterday announced both groups’ boards have approved the move. It comes after the Water Council recently began a search for its next CEO as current leader Dean Amhaus is stepping down later this year.

“This collaboration is a win not only for us and MMAC but, most importantly, our members, the industry and the community as a whole,” Amhaus said in a statement. “Working closely with the MMAC team offers The Water Council team a strong and important ally that will open doors and create new growth opportunities for our members in Milwaukee and worldwide.”

Scott Beightol, board chairman for the Water Council, says MMAC and partner organization Milwaukee 7 played a role in the group’s creation in 2009 by helping to identify its water technology industry focus.

He said “it’s natural for us to work together to promote one of the region’s most powerful assets.”

See the release.

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