A state budget fix keeps transportation moving in Wisconsin – at least for the next two years. "It keeps the DOT afloat," says Craig Thompson of the Transportation Development Association of the recently-adopted state budget.
"It does keep things moving for the next two years, and that, coupled with the stimulus dollars that are on the road right now, will keep people employed in Wisconsin, will keep projects moving for now," says Thompson. "It doesn't address the question of where we're headed, and how we're going to fund transportation in the future."
The budget uses bonding to pay for road projects in the coming two years, but Thompson says the governor and Legislature need to address long-term funding issues for the DOT. "There was no money that came out of the transportation fund to help balance the general fund, and that's significant," he says. "Some of those raids in the past have hurt the confidence of people, that their user fee dollars – registration fee and gas tax – have been going to what they're supposed to go to, and that's caused other problems."
