Roads may be struck from budget
State lawmakers aiming to break logjam on funding
MADISON - Legislative leaders floated the notion Thursday that they could strip road funding from the state budget in an effort to bridge deep GOP divisions over transportation.
In theory, taking up highway funding separately from the rest of the state budget would allow majority Republican leaders to win additional votes from minority Democrats.
“I have suggested that,” Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills), co-chairwoman of the Legislature’s budget committee, said. “If we take it out, do it now, put options on the table, it could help.”
The move would be unusual but not unprecedented — lawmakers last pulled transportation from the state budget in 1995 because of a disagreement over an oil refinery fee. Though unlikely, the possibility underlined the difficulties Republicans face in deciding on the lesser of two evils: raising taxes for roads or borrowing money.
A spokesman for Gov. Scott Walker quickly discounted the prospect of handling transportation separately.
“There’s no reason why they can’t get this done through the normal budget process,” spokesman Tom Evenson said by email. “If the Legislature wants to provide more money for transportation, then the governor is willing to work with them on that so long as we’re not raising taxes.”
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) privately discussed taking transportation out of the budget on Wednesday. But Fitzgerald will strongly argue against such a move, according to his spokeswoman, Myranda Tanck.
There’s also no guarantee this approach will produce a bipartisan plan. Sen. Jon Erpenbach of Middleton said that he and other Democrats
have received no response to a previous offer to work with Republicans on a transportation deal.
“It’s really hard to vote for something when you’ve never been part of the discussion,” Erpenbach said.
To close a long-term shortfall in road funding, Assembly Republicans have proposed increasing taxes on gas, which are used for transportation spending, while cutting income taxes by a much larger amount. Walker has panned that plan and vowed to veto any new taxes on gas.
Both Walker’s budget, which relies more on borrowing, and the Assembly plan would delay projects over the next two years.
Fitzgerald has raised the prospect of borrowing more for roads and paying back that money using funds that normally go toward schools and health care programs. Assembly Republicans have objected to that, leaving no clear path forward.
Also Thursday, the Joint Finance Committee debated an audit that found the state had shifted $55 million out of the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King despite concerns about the facility.
Republicans rejected a Democratic response that would have put $26 million of new money into the state veterans fund over the next two years. But lawmakers did unanimously require the Department of Veterans Affairs to give the budget committee a chance to object to future transfers from veterans homes.
The committee also went through many parts of Walker’s budget bill Thursday.
Broadband. The panel voted to expand broadband internet services in rural areas with up to $14.5 million in new funding.
Wisconsin Eye. The committee unanimously approved providing $450,400 over two years to help pay for 23 new cameras for the state public affairs network that serves as Wisconsin’s CSPAN.
Utility rates. The panel unanimously voted to increase funding by $371,000 a year for groups that advocate for low utility costs for consumers and businesses. The move would restore some of a two-year $1.3 million cut made to the Citizens Utility Board and other groups in 2015.
Stray voltage. The lawmakers unanimously voted to scale back one of the two state programs that help protect dairy herds from the health effects of stray electrical current. Walker had wanted to eliminate both programs.
Energy efficiency. The panel voted to drop Walker’s plan to designate an additional $10 million a year on energy efficiency projects in public schools by using money from an efficiency program that serves businesses.
Professional exams. The committee unanimously rejected allowing workers such as barbers, electricians and plumbers to get professional licenses through apprenticeship programs without taking exams.
Wastewater treatment. Lawmakers delayed until June 30, 2021, Walker’s phaseout of a program that helps low- and middle-income homeowners repair or replace failing septic systems.
Prescription drug monitoring. The panel unanimously approved spending $500,000 a year to detect opioid abuse through a database for doctors and pharmacists to use in tracking prescriptions.
Public benefits. Legislators unanimously dropped the governor’s plan to spend $1.3 million to move health care and food stamp enrollment workers out of the Coggs Human Services Building on W. Vliet St. in Milwaukee.
But the committee approved Walker’s plan to replace private contractors by hiring 41 less expensive state workers to provide long-term care services for the elderly, saving $3.6 million over two years.