MADISON, WI (WTAQ) – The topic of the future of funding transportation projects in Wisconsin is having a light shined upon it by the co-chair of the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee.
Wisconsin State Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) spoke with the media on Wednesday, just a day after issuing a statement where he called for an open dialogue on finding and approving a sustainable solution to maintaining the state’s infrastructure.
“I think all options need to be on the table,” Nygren said. “I have personal opinions on how we address this. In the last budget, we were looking for efficiencies in the Department of Transportation to see if there’s things they can do to reduce our costs. To have any expectations that we’d find nearly $1 billion in savings through that audit is unrealistic.”
Nygren cites numbers from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau showing Wisconsin needing to recover more than $939 million just to maintain what was approved last budget. That figure doesn’t include debt service payments.
Nygren calls the current funding mechanism, “neither sustainable nor effective.”
“I’m concerned about the level of bonding that we’ve actually been utilizing,” said Nygren. “The dollars we spend versus the dollars we’re bringing in is getting to a point where we’re basically passing our costs onto our kids.”
GOVERNOR RESPONDS
Just prior to when Nygren was to begin his conference call Wednesday, Governor Scott Walker issued a statement of his own.
“Raising taxes and fees is not the answer,” Walker said. “Under our administration, we will keep it a priority to live within the means of the hardworking people of Wisconsin. That is a commitment I will honor. Leadership will require us to identify cost savings and prioritize our needs, as I have directed my Department of Transportation secretary to do, especially when it comes to safety and maintenance. I am confident we can do better than placing new taxes on Wisconsin citizens.”
Nygren responded by referring to the governor’s consideration of a tradeoff, by cutting taxes in other areas to offset any rise in taxes or fees for transportation.
“When you look at, over our last several budgets, the amount of new revenue we’ve had to pump into our Medicaid system, I don’t believe, at least on the surface at this point, that it’d be realistic to expect that we’re going to find those dollars to do a trade off,” Nygren explains.
Governor Walker previously requested that Wisconsin DOT Secretary Mark Gottlieb compete his agency’s budget in September.
HOW DRIVERS COULD PAY MORE
Nygren reiterated that while he doesn’t have a specific roadmap to get to a better transportation funding place, everything must be considered.
“I’m willing to consider all options, whether that be a gas tax or registration. My preference would be a gas tax because that’s something that people visiting our state would pay, whereas the registration would simply be on the state of Wisconsin,” said Nygren. “Also in the last budget, we asked for a tolling study to see if it’s something that’s feasible.”
That may mean drivers could have to open up their wallet on Wisconsin highways.
“I’d be open to it,” Nygren said. “I travel the country a lot, especially in the last couple years taking trips out east and Wisconsin was the only state that we drove through that didn’t have some type of tolling going on. I think it’s a true user fee, if you’re not using the toll system you’re not paying, I do believe that is an option for us to consider.”
Nygren concedes that it’s not a short-term option, because the state would need Congressional approval before they can implement it.
Another concern is a number of planned construction projects in Wisconsin, or highway projects which are about to begin. Nygren says, “Almost any project in our state is in jeopardy at this point.”
