Wisconsin Lawmakers Slam Walker's Transportation Budget

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DALLAS – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker offered a no-new tax, $6.5 billion two-year state transportation budget proposal on Thursday that was criticized as a political move by Republican leaders in the State Assembly.

Walker's proposal for fiscal 2018 and 2019 would reduce overall state transportation spending to $6.5 billion from $6.8 billion in the current biennium and reduce spending on state highway programs by $447 million. On the plus side, state road maintenance efforts would receive an additional $70 million over the two years and cities would be in line for an extra $65 million.

The budget plan released by Walker on Sept. 15 calls for $500 million of new transportation debt, including $473.9 million of transportation revenue bonds and $26.1 million of state general obligation bonds for port and freight rail projects.

"This budget proves you don't have to raise taxes or fees to maintain a safe and strong transportation network," Walker said. "This budget provides more funding to local governments for their roads and bridges, keeps borrowing at historically low levels, and maintains our no tax or fee increase pledge."

Taking scarce revenues away from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to fund city street projects is a mistake, said the top Republican leaders in the State Assembly in a joint statement.

"While we welcome additional dollars to support local roads, it should not come at the expense of delaying important state projects which will cost more down the road," according to the statement from House Speaker Robin Vos, majority leader Jim Steineke, assistant majority leader Dan Knodl, and Rep. John Nygren, co-chairman of the Joint Finance Committee.

"Not only will delays result in much higher costs, but they'll also lead to much more dramatic fee or tax increases in the future," the four lawmakers said. "This budget request falls short of addressing the long-term funding crisis in our transportation budget. It is a political solution, not a real solution," they said.

Walker is a Republican, as are 19 of the 33 state senators and 63 of the 93 representatives in the State Assembly.

The four Republican lawmakers also criticized Walker for his refusal to consider raising the state's gasoline tax or vehicle fees to pay for the projects that would be funded by the proposed $500 million of new state debt.

"It is more conservative to pay for projects today than it is to borrow the money and make our children pay the price. But for far too long under Democratic and Republican leadership, the state has relied too heavily on bonding," they said.

An increase in the state gasoline tax of 32.9 cents a gallon should be one of the revenue options on the table when Walker submits the budget proposal to the Legislature early next year, the lawmakers said.

"We will first look to enact cost savings and make the necessary reforms before any discussion of raising additional revenues," they said. "We look forward to a robust, public conversation that should include every option available to address our state's long-term transportation needs."

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau said in August that the state needs $939 million over the next two-year budget cycle to keep transportation funding at the current level.

A study ordered by the legislature in 2015 on creating a system of toll roads in Wisconsin is scheduled for release in January.

Walker's budget proposal is not a long-term solution to the state's transportation funding problem, said state Senate Democratic leader Jennifer Schilling.

"This plan ignores widespread calls from Democrats and Republicans for a sustainable transportation revenue source to reduce the need for borrowing while improving our local roads and keeping major projects on schedule," she said. "It's irresponsible to provide that funding by simply pretending the need to reconstruct and modernize Wisconsin's freeway system doesn't exist."

Walker said Thursday that he would veto any attempts in the 2017 Legislature to raise the gasoline tax that were not offset by compensatory spending cuts.

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