Funding fight over UW System should provide lessons on road funding

When we were young, we were taught that you don’t buy what you can’t afford. But we also learned that sometimes things are cheaper today than they will be tomorrow. That is what the state of Wisconsin is discovering. In the current state budget, Governor Walker delayed plans to borrow money in order to build several new buildings at campuses throughout the University of Wisconsin system. Those needs still exist, and in the next state budget, the UW System is again requesting that those buildings be built. Only this time, the request for state money is $30 million more than it was two years ago, due to inflation and other rising costs. Among the requests from the UW System is a new fieldhouse, with a pricetag of $35 million, and a new dorm, with a pricetag of $37 million. Both projects cost more today than they would have two years ago. Wisconsn lawmakers should remember that when determining how to pay for our roads. Walker has resorted to borrowing, and putting off projects as a way to save money on roads. Because as we have seen in the UW System, those projects will never be cheaper tomorrow than they are today.