Transportation Funding Is Primarily What’s Holding Up Budget, Says Walker

Gov. Scott Walker says he thinks transportation funding is the biggest remaining hangup in state budget negotiations that are dragging on longer than expected.

Walker proposed borrowing $1.3 billion dollars for roads in his budget proposal, but Republican lawmakers are talking about cutting that figure substantially. They’re also negotiating which road projects should move forward and which should be delayed.

Walker said Wednesday he wishes lawmakers would leave those decisions alone.

“I think just as a form of public policy, we’re better off saying what the total dollar amount is that the Legislature is going to give the Department of Transportation to use,” said Walker.

Were that to happen, it would put the final decisions for road planning in the hands of Walker’s administration.

There’s a lot riding on the timing of this budget for Walker, who has said he won’t formally announce his presidential campaign until the budget is done. Walker had said he hoped the Joint Finance Committee would wrap up its work on the budget this week. Committee Co-Chair Alberta Darling, however, told the Associated Press that won’t happen.