GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Governor Tony Evers spoke at Bay Beach Tuesday to say that he disagrees with GOP leadership on the recently passed transportation budget, but does believe he has their attention.
According to him, it’s a matter of where to get the money.
“Certainly, do I think the gas tax was more sustainable funding, I do,” explains Governor Evers.
He has supported a gas tax increase to pay for repairs to Wisconsin roads, while last Thursday, the state’s joint finance committee approved a plan involving higher title transfer fees and an increase in annual vehicle registrations.
Those in support of the committee’s plan say it will direct even more funds for the purpose of road repair.
“Probably late enough that my daughter’s in bed so I’m going to use some of the Governor’s language when he tweets today: ‘Fix the damn roads!’ This motion fixes more damn roads than his does,” said Republican representative Mark Born last week.
The plan passed by the committee would have Wisconsin drivers paying an extra 95 dollars to transfer a title and anywhere from 10 to 25 dollars more a year to register their vehicle.
The Governor says he remains skeptical.
“There’s some cloudiness about the actual funding source and whether it’s going to be through various ways,” he says. “So, we’re in a holding pattern right now.”
While the two sides might not agree on means to achieve the funding, Evers thinks there’s finally bi-partisan agreeance on the need for the resources.
“The good news is that the Republicans took seriously our work to increase resources,” he explains. “It’s just a matter of making sure those dots are connected.”
Next up, the joint finance committee is scheduled to complete all of its work on the budget Thursday.
Governor Evers will have the ability to make partial vetoes afterward, or, veto the entire spending plan by the committee.
On that topic, he remained non-committal.
“We’ll see at the end of the day what that budget looks like,” Evers says. “It’s premature at this time.”
