Governor Scott Walker (Photo: WRN)
Republican legislative leaders say Wisconsin should use highway tolling, to access federal dollars through President Donald Trump’s proposed infrastructure plan. What does Governor Scott Walker think?
“To be perfectly clear, I am not in any way suggesting support for tolling today,” Walker said Wednesday. “I’m not taking it off the table permanently. Just because someone brought it up doesn’t mean I’m proposing it.”
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said the Trump administration could provide $200 billion in federal infrastructure money over 10 years – if the states can also pitch in.
“There is no clearer signal to the states that ‘you better start doing open road tolling.’ A nickel, a dime on a gas tax, that is not going to fill the pot that is going to be able to match those federal dollars at this point,” Fitzgerald said Thursday during a Wisconsin Counties Association forum in Madison.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said road users should pay for that infrastructure. “That’s what tolling basically has as an option,” Vos said, noting that he and Fitzgerald are in agreement, and that open road tolling has previously enjoyed bipartisan support. “We can all vote for tolling. It’s a good idea, it’s the future, and it’s the only way we’re going to have enough revenue in the long run.”
“We’re not even going to think about it, unless we can reduce taxes somewhere else, at an equal or greater margin,” Walker said.