Wisconsin Business Leaders Want Roads Fixed Now and a Sustainable Budget for Future
Wisconsin’s transportation infrastructure is in crisis. As I’ve written, I believe it is imperative for conservative lawmakers to take the lead to find the most responsible and efficient ways to address this crisis and create a sustainable revenue source so things never get this bad again. But no matter your political persuasion, the transportation crisis is an issue that impacts every business in Wisconsin.>
We’ve come a long way but we can’t ignore the fact that the job is not yet done.
Conservatives Must Lead the Way With Transportation Fix
It’s time to get serious about the Wisconsin road, bridge and highway crisis, and it’s time for conservatives to lead the way toward resolving it.
Conservatives are guided by facts, not emotion. Here are the facts:
- 42 percent of Wisconsin’s major roads are in mediocre to poor condition
- In a report card for 2015, the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance gave the condition of Wisconsin’s highways a D–this was the worst grade of the 23 factors that were measured
- 14 percent of our bridges need immediate repair or modernization and 919 are currently posted with weight restrictions, so many of today’s heavier trucks and farm implements can no longer safely go over them
- Our Interstates, which are beyond their 50 year life span, are in the process of being reconstructed
- While income and property tax receipts to the state increase every year (even in a sluggish economy) gas tax receipts do not because of increased fuel efficiency
- Our vehicle registration fees are also relatively low compared to other states, which makes the annual cost to drive (gas tax and vehicle registration fees) lowest in the region by a wide margin
- We’ve relied upon bonding so much in recent years that debt service now accounts for 19.3 percent of every dollar spent from the transportation fund, that’s up from 10.8 percent in 2010
- The rightly-applauded property tax freeze implemented in Wisconsin is going up in smoke as municipality after municipality relies on bonding, new taxes, and referenda-approved spending to cover dwindling state transportation aid
Conservatism, Economic Development, Just Fix It, Roads, Transportation, Wisconsin
