Republicans still at odds on how to fund roads as budget deadline nears

Borrowing is not an option for Ass. Speaker Robin Vos.

More taxes for you appears to be still on the table to help pay for roads in Wisconsin.  

Republicans have been publicly fighting with each other this week as tomorrow’s deadline for finalizing the state’s next two year spending plan gets closer.

Transportation funding continues to be the main sticking point in the debate among Republicans.  

A new statewide poll suggests nearly half in Wisconsin want to pay in order to make the roads better.

And that makes sense to Republican state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who says most in the state understand that falling further behind in infrastructure isn’t a good choice for Wisconsin.

“We don’t want to reduce the amount of projects, because we know they are needed, as are a whole lot more that aren’t even on the docket,” Vos said, addressing questions about transportation funding in Madison on Wednesday.

Vos remains committed to resisting excessive borrowing for roads and is still holding out hope that some form of extra taxes on drivers will eventually be part of the state’s next two-year spending plan.

“What’s worse than not doing the projects is literally bankrupting our transportation fund by having runaway credit card spending,” Vos said. “If all we do is rack up the credit card, all of our future projects are in jeopardy because we don’t have the revenue to pay for them.” 

Transportation funding is considered the most contentious issue among Republicans in coming to a resolution on the state’s next two year budget.