The Biden-Harris Administration’s record on improving Wisconsin transportation and infrastructure is up for debate again. That’s after a two-day visit from a man who is rumored to be a finalist for the vice president slot on the Democratic ticket.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited a federally-supported port facility in Manitowoc on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, he made two stops in Milwaukee that were open to the news media.
Stop number one was at the DeLong Co. grain export facility at Jones Island. Nine million dollars in federal money is helping the firm expand its complex. Buttigieg said after a brief walk-through that it was a bit different than other Biden Administration infrastructure spending he’s been highlighting lately.
"I’ve had a lot of dust on my shoes. But this is the first time that I’ve had grain dust on my jacket. It feels pretty good," Buttigieg said, to laughter at a news conference.
Also feeling good at the Buttigieg event was Bo DeLong, vice president of the grain exporter. DeLong said the recent federal grant is actually the second one from the Biden Administration.
"Well, without the federal help, we wouldn’t have been able to build it as quickly as we did. They just helped us push over that hill of — should we do this or should we not do it? Having the federal funding just made our return enough to where we wanted to put in our individual funds. Our private funds," DeLong told WUWM.
Also praising the federal funds was James Becton, who represents about 100 local members of the international Longshoremen’s Association. Becton said his union has already endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president this fall because he said the workers have fared better under the Biden-Harris team than they did under former President Donald Trump.
“Compared to the previous administration and what this administration has offered, sure. We are definitely moving in the forward direction and the way we should be moving," Becton said.
Buttigieg’s other stop open to the media was to take a short ride on the Amtrak Hiawatha train heading north from Milwaukee’s airport.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers joined Buttigieg, and when they stepped off at the downtown Intermodal Station, they met with reporters. The U.S. Transportation Department helped fund the recent addition of a second daily train between Milwaukee and the Twin Cities, and the state says initial ridership on that Borealis service is good.
Buttigieg was asked about federally-backed studies that are looking at potential service from Milwaukee to Green Bay and Milwaukee to Madison.
He replied: “It’s a great moment to be doing that because we’re in the middle of the biggest infrastructure investment in passenger rail since Amtrak was created 50 years ago. Doesn’t mean we can do it all overnight. But that’s exactly why we’re not just funding construction. We’re also funding planning. Getting good ideas onto the drawing board, so they can eventually turn into concrete reality.”
Throughout the visit, Buttigieg’s staff discouraged reporters from asking the secretary about news stories that he is one of the finalists to join Harris on the expected Democratic ticket. And Buttigieg declined to answer the election questions that did come up.
But Republicans call the secretary’s trip to Wisconsin "a taxpayer-funded audition for vice president." U.S. Rep. Brian Steil (R-Janesville) acknowledges that putting money into ports helps the economy but insists that Buttigieg is not telling the full story.
“He’s going to cherry-pick key investments. What he’s not going to do is highlight the number of flawed investments that this administration is trying to shove through — in particular, electric vehicle charging stations," Steil said.
Eventually, there was strong bipartisan support in the Wisconsin Legislature for accepting the tens of millions of dollars needed to build the charging stations in the state, and Buttigieg said Wednesday that the publicly funded chargers would fill in gaps left by the private sector.
Kamala Harris is due to campaign in Eau Claire next Wednesday. We’re expecting to know by then if Buttigieg will be along as Harris’ running mate or if another person has been picked up for the ticket.
