Walker, WMC push legislators on transportation funding

Gov. Scott Walker lobbied hard at a business event in Madison to push the Joint Finance Committee to approve more than $200 million in borrowing to fund highway projects.

The governor asked attendees at WMC’s “State of Wisconsin Business” event to contact their legislators – especially members of the Senate – on behalf of his borrowing proposal.

“We need a good transportation infrastructure to get things to market, city, county or interstate roads,” Walker said at Monona Terrace in Madison. “When you look at long-term transportation projects, bonding makes sense. This isn’t a two-year expenditure. So it’s important for you to reach out to your legislators. They have concerns about debt, and I respect that. But they need to hear from you.”

After the WMC talk, Walker headed to the Fox Valley to look at work underway to expand about six miles of US Highway 10 and Wisconsin Highway 441 from four to six lanes and reconstruct five interchanges and the Roland Kamp Bridge.

Walker repeatedly emphasized that the state’s total bonding level is the lowest it’s been in 20 years, and that Wisconsin’s economy is solid with a 4.3 percent unemployment rate, 100,000 unfilled jobs, a $279 million “rainy day” account and a fully funded pension program.

The guv said transportation projects all over the state need funding, including the widening of Interstate 39/90 from Madison to the state line with Illinois.

Kurt Bauer, WMC president, said his group will lobby on behalf of the governor’s bonding proposal.

But Bauer said the state needs new revenue to support transportation projects – including hiking the gas tax, toll roads or raising the sales tax for highway projects. Walker has said he’s opposed to those increases.

“We will do what we always do and lobby and present the case for bonding,” he said. “We think it’s necessary. Transportation infrastructure and education are the two areas where you need to invest at the state level for the long-term health of your economy.”

Bauer said he’s been told that some legislators have “consternation” about bonding debt. He said he understands the concern. While bonding is not a long-term solution, he said it is the solution now. Moreover, he said it would be a mistake to borrow without new “revenue enhancements later. We need a combination of the two.”

He said funding roads presents some challenges because the gas tax no longer generates the revenues it once did since cars have become been more energy efficient.

“We have a lower registration fee, so both could be raised modestly,” he said. “We might also look at another source of new revenue — whether it is tolling or the sales tax. If do that, you’ll sustain transport spending at a level that needs to be in an economy that is really dependent on transportation.”

— By Brian Clark
For WisBusiness.com