Senate Republicans Propose Road Funding Increase For Counties, Towns

A group of Republican state senators wants to give counties and towns a one-time influx of $134 million to fix local roads.

Each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties — whether large or small — would get $1 million under the Senate GOP plan. The remaining $62 million would be sent to town governments.

The plan would use money from Wisconsin’s general fund, which is generated through income and sales tax receipts and typically pays for expenses like schools, Medicaid and prisons. The most recent revenue estimate by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau showed the general fund would have a balance of roughly $1 billion on June 30.

“We want to use this one-time money to make a difference in the one thing that all of our constituents have told us that they want,” said Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green. “To fix our roads.”

A total of 10 GOP senators introduced the plan at a state Capitol news conference. Marklein said that didn’t necessarily mean it would be supported by the entire Senate GOP caucus or Assembly Republicans.

Because of the way the money would be distributed under the plan, other local governments, namely municipalities, would be shut out of the funding.

Wisconsin League of Municipalities Executive Director Jerry Deschane said after the news conference that his group supported a “holistic” solution that’s more fair.

“There’s obviously nothing in this for 70 percent of the taxpayers in this state,” Deschane said. “That’s roughly how many people live in cities and villages. So that’s a problem.”

The Legislature’s budget committee is scheduled to vote Thursday on Wisconsin’s entire transportation budget for the next two years. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, suggested in a statement that Marklein’s plan would be considered separately from that.

“This is a laudable idea that I currently consider as a proposal outside the state transportation budget to utilize one time money as a result of the strong fiscal numbers we saw reported in May,” Fitzgerald said in a statement.

Gov. Tony Evers’ transportation budget would increase the gas tax and a variety of fees to generate $600 million in new revenue for roads over the next two years. Fitzgerald has said the Senate won’t support raising the gas tax but that Republicans could agree to some type of transportation fee increase.