Pfaff looks for local road and bridge funding, along with money for campus buildings, in new state budget

Roads and bridges in rural parts of Wisconsin will be as important as anything else in the state’s next budget, according to La Crosse area Senator Brad Pfaff. 

Following last week’s budget message from Governor Evers, Pfaff tells La Crosse reporters that while high-tech concerns such as broadband access will shape the budget, low-tech needs must also be met.

“If we cannot get the grain truck across a county or town bridge because the bridge is faltering, it’s pretty tough,” Pfaff says. “We got all that grain on our farm fields, but if we can’t get the grain truck down the town road, it’s along way from our markets in Europe or in Asia.”

Pfaff also has concerns about the UW System, regarding tuition levels and funding for campus building projects.

The senator says that he would like the legislature to approve funding for the second Prairie Springs science building on the UW-La Crosse campus. 

The first building opened five years ago, and the second one is still scheduled to take the place of Cowley Hall.  Pfaff says the university has grown a lot since Cowley opened.

“In 1968, when that building was built, there were 4800 undergraduates at UW-La Crosse,” says Pfaff. “Today, there’s 4800 students at UW-La Crosse that are studying within the sciences.”

Pfaff is optimistic that the two parties can work together in Madison to support construction in the UW system.