Police, Firefighters Call For Road Funding Fix

Police officers and firefighters Tuesday called on the Legislature to address Wisconsin’s road funding needs, saying poor road conditions are putting public safety at risk.

Their call comes two days before the Legislature’s budget committee is scheduled to debate Gov. Tony Evers’ road budget, which would increase taxes and fees to boost road funding by more than $600 million.

Speaking at a state Capitol news conference, representatives of the Wisconsin Troopers Association, the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin, the Badger State Sheriffs’ Association and the Wisconsin Professional Police Association said they were not endorsing any specific plan for road funding, but they were calling on lawmakers to act.

“We stand here as a united group focused on public safety,” said Mike DeGarmo, a lieutenant with the Racine Fire Department. “And we’re asking the state Legislature to find some common-sense, sustainable solutions to transportation funding.”

Grant County Sheriff Nate Dreckman said said poor road conditions affect the routes his officers are able to drive in an emergency and how fast they’re able to drive.

“In Grant County, for example, we have a highway that, over the wintertime, would buckle heavily to the point that first responders would avoid that road because of the roughness of it and take other alternate routes to get to scenes, delaying their response,” Dreckman said.

Dane County Deputy Jim Brigham said poor road conditions on U.S. Highway 151 north of Sun Prairie had caused hundreds of tire blowouts, some of which had caused accidents.

“Last summer, literally every day, they were responding to a blowout tire,” Brigham said. “Any time someone is on the side of the road, whether it’s a citizen or a first responder, you’re putting those people’s lives at risk.”

Evers’ budget would increase road funding in a variety of ways, with the largest bump coming from an immediate 8-cent per gallon increase in the gas tax. The governor’s budget would also index the gas tax so that it would increase automatically to keep pace with inflation, which would raise the state’s share of the gas tax to 42.5 cents per gallon by 2021.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last week Republicans won’t pass the gas tax hike, but he said they were considering other options for revenue, like fees. Fitzgerald has previously voiced support for adding toll roads in Wisconsin.

Fitzgerald and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, were at odds over transportation funding two years ago, with Fitzgerald and former Gov. Scott Walker generally opposed to new taxes or fees and Vos pushing aggressively for new revenue. Vos said earlier this year that Republicans won’t fight amongst themselves during this budget debate.