Working just before midnight Tuesday night, the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee OK'd a Republican plan to boost spending on transportation in the state dramatically. But the four Democrats on the 16-person committee voted against the motion, saying it punishes drivers of electric vehicles and jeopardizes the future of mass transit funding in Wisconsin.
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau says there would be $1.55 billion in new spending, including borrowing $350 million to help build a new bridge in Superior.
Joint Finance Co-chair, Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) said he's thrilled.
"I gotta tell ya', I'm jazzed as hell to support this motion. I mean, C'mon. Our motion provides substantial increases for roads in our state. How can that not be exciting?" Born asked the committee.
Besides the bridge between Superior and Duluth, there would be $238 million for so-called mega-projects in southeast Wisconsin, primarily the expected re-do of a few miles of the East-West I-94 Freeway. There'd be more money to help repair local roads, including $150 million to fix agricultural roads around the state.
Six million dollars would help pay for drivers education programs.
State aid to local mass transit systems would increase by 2% during the first year of the two-year budget cycle. But after that, transit aid would no longer be a dedicated (also known as segregated) part of the transportation budget. Rather, the money would come from the state's general fund.
Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) said transit would have to compete with many other state programs.
"Which means it stands more likelihood of being cut. And we all know how we like to cut things in this committee. We've had a whole night of full of proof of how we like to cut stuff," Johnson said.
For the most part, the GOP-controlled committee has trimmed many dollars from the budget Gov. Tony Evers (D) proposed a few months ago.
Rep. Evan Goyke (D-Milwaukee) also said a portion of the new dollars for transportation spending will come from higher fees for owners of electric vehicles.
"The government taxing people for making a choice to go to an emission-free vehicle is not sound public policy in my mind," Goyke said.
But the other Joint Finance Co-chair, Sen.Howard Marklein, (R-Spring Green) disagreed.
"I'm so happy we increased the electric vehicle fees to $175. Everybody should pay for the use of our roads. Regardless of the type of vehicle they drive," Marklein said.
Drivers of gasoline-powered vehicles pay at the pump through the state gas tax. But electric vehicles are often more expensive to buy, and owners pay fees at charging stations or through a home charging system.
The Joint Finance Committee Tuesday also passed the recently-announced deal to increase shared revenue for communities. But after hours behind closed doors, the panel held off on voting on the UW System budget and a plan from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Racine County) to cut $32 million from the university due to Vos' dislike for campus diversity offices and programming.
The committee says it'll take up the UW System budget at a later date.
Editor's Note: Joint Finance Committee audio provided by Wisconsin Eye.
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