WisDOT recap - Evers wanted more funding, and WisGOPs added even more

I wanted to give an update on where the WisDOT budget stood after Joint Finance action last week.

On the revenue side, Governor Tony Evers wanted to have nearly $300 million go from the General Fund to the Transportation Fund for the 2023-25 biennium, and would have used another $76 million to pay down DOT debt. The GOP-run Joint Finance Committee responded by sending over more than twice that amount General Fund money, but did not pay down the debt in the process.

As you will see, the Joint Finance Committee's moves involve a one-time transfer of $555 million of General Fund dollars min the next fiscal year, along with the 0.25% transfer of all General Fund taxes that already exists in state law. JFC also included a Governor Evers proposal to move the sales taxes generated from electric vehicle sales, and send that over into the Transportation Fund.

$100 million going from the General Fund to the Transportation Fund each year is going to help, but it still means WisDOT will likely have struggles to keep above water under current law after Infrastructure funds from DC run out in 2026.

On the spending side, WisGOP's motion in Finance means that even more funds will be slated to go into Wisconsin than the decent increase Governor Evers asked for in his original budget.

Joint Finance also threw $400 million for the state's estimated share of replacing the Blatnik Bridge between Duluth and Superior, allowing for the last $352.8 million to be borrowed in this biennium instead of merely putting down the first $47.2 million, like Governor Evers wanted to do.

There were also some notable changes in a couple of aid programs for local governments.

….Democrats on the budget committee took issue with another move by Republicans that would fund mass transit via the general fund for the first time since the program was created in 1973. The danger, Democrats argued, is that in future years when state funding is low and the budget gets cut, transit could be on the chopping block, endangering a service that’s a lifeline for people who don’t own cars.

“I’m talking about thousands of riders a day, depending on those services, to get to both work and school,” said Sen. LaTonya Johnson, D-Milwaukee.

Republicans said the fears were unfounded, noting that along with their transfer, they proposed giving transit a 2 percent increase in the first year of the upcoming budget. The GOP motion would spend more than the governor proposed in other areas, including $100 million for a local roads improvement program and $150 million for “agricultural” roads.

Putting transit aids in the General Fund was something Scott Walker attempted a couple of times during his Reign of Error, but back then, the GOP-controlled Legislature put those funds back into the Transportation Fund, making it more sustainable and likely to be protected from cuts. Seems like an odd time for them to reverse course, but it seems the GOP is playing a bit of a game here, daring Evers to veto the 2% increase in aids along with the move to the General Fund.

I also wanted to go over the $250 million mentioned for the Local Roads Improvement Program (LRIP). The $100 million for “improvements” matches what Evers wanted to add to a discretionary grant program that gives 90% support to Wisconsin communities for road projects, instead of the 50% match that the “regular” (and smaller) LRIP discretionary grant program gives. That “regular” LRIP program is also going to get 4% increases in aid in 2024 and 2025, which is also what Evers asked for.

The $150 million for agricultural roads matches a bill that had already gotten hearings in legislative committees, and is intended to improve both local roads, and transportation infrastructure that’s on farmland and processors’ properties.

The bills, introduced with a bipartisan group of co-sponsors, expose the fact that the state’s aging rural infrastructure, often first constructed in the 1950s and 60s, has not kept up with an agricultural industry that has forced farmers to grow their operations or go out of business. As those operations have grown, equipment has gotten larger, requiring more robust roads and bridges and straining the existing stock.

“The trucks are not too heavy for the roads, the roads are not built well enough for the trucks,” Dan Johnson, vice president of the Wisconsin Milk Haulers Association, said. “This critical funding legislation is needed if Wisconsin is to remain as America’s Dairyland and keep milk moving from farm to processor to consumers throughout the year.”…

Under the bills, municipalities will be eligible for grants that cover up to 100% of a project’s cost if it improves a local road, minor collector, bridge or culvert under the control of the local government; provides access to agricultural lands and is used by more than one producer; the infrastructure is subject to weight limits at least annually and the reconstruction will remove that weight limit. An amendment adds roads used for hauling forestry products to the list of eligible projects.

We’ll see if all that is included in the new $150 million grant program, but between this and the big boosts in shared revenue bill that got through the Legislature last week, rural roads and related transportation infrastructure is currently slated to get a lot of help in the coming years.

Still, it looks like everyone in Wisconsin should benefit from more WisDOT-funded services and repairs in the next state budget, and it seems to have been something that both the GOP-run Legislature and Governor Evers have found quite a few areas of common ground on.