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As I See It

Finally, a plan to pay for Wisconsin roads

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Maybe they’ve finally figured it out. And maybe it wasn’t really that hard after all. Lawmakers in Madison have spent the past eight years struggling to come up with a sustainable, long-term solution to fund road work in the state. They have largely resorted to putting off projects and borrowing to pay for them. Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s roads and bridges have continued to deteriorate, now ranked among the worst in the nation. But in his budget proposal, Gov. Tony Evers has come up with a plan that could, not only raise the money to pay for needed road work, but also save us money when we fill up our tanks. Evers is calling for raising the state’s gas tax by 8 cents per gallon. But he also wants to repeal the state’s minimum markup law, which forces gasoline retailers to set their prices at a certain level above their costs. Repealing that law could lead to more competition at the gas pump, and drivers could see prices drop by 14 cents a gallon. That sounds like a win-win. It is good that the state is finally taking steps to once again give us drivable roads, and doing so in a smart, fair way.

Scott Robert Shaw serves as WIZM Program Director and News Director, and delivers the morning news on WKTY, Z-93 and 95.7 The Rock. Scott has been at Mid-West Family La Crosse since 1989, and authors Wisconsin's only daily radio editorial, "As I See It" heard on WIZM each weekday morning and afternoon.

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2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Greg Symons

    March 5, 2019 at 6:35 am

    Or he could’ve just used part of the 600 billion dollar surplus the state already had in place rather than increasing taxes. It’s quite delusional to think that you will be saving money because you’ll be paying a higher tax rate.

  2. Sur Knutson

    March 5, 2019 at 3:40 pm

    Maybe thry should put the mobey back in the fund that the last Democrat Governor took out iof the road fund and we would have the money. This Governor is going to ruin Wisconsin. Leave our National Guard at border and not vote for Abortion, that is murder. We saw how the state dudvthevrisd on Hwy 27 through Eastman
    They had to tear up sidewalk 3 times in some place because they didn’t know how to do it. Then took entances out of places they shouldn’t of and had to build a new road. Sovtell me what the devil does the DOT hire their engineers besides of the ditch

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