Here & Now

Democrat Wants Fix To 'Unsustainable' Transportation Funding

Frederica Freyberg:

If the split amongst Republicans at the top in Wisconsin is rare, so too is the bipartisan agreement over road funding and the need to raise revenue. Democratic member of the Assembly Transportation Committee Representative Deb Kolste of Janesville says the current course is an unsustainable path. Thanks for being here.

Deb Kolste:

Thank you very much for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

Well, so you have called for an adequate dedicated funding source for vital transportation infrastructure. What in your mind would be the best source or sources?

Deb Kolste:

Well, you know, in 2006 we had a steady — before I got to the legislature, they said we were going to have a $700 million shortfall and they gave all sorts of suggestions, starting in 2011, 2013. They gave us a billion dollar shortfall and put all the options on the table: increased gas tax, go back to indexing, look at toll roads, increased licensure and registration fees. I mean, all those — you know, I don’t think there’s one thing that’s going to make–get us out of this hole. I think it’s going to take a look at all of the above. They tried to say efficiencies could maybe get this out of this. But I don’t think that’s possible. Some of the efficiencies they brought–this is a — you know, a big project and little, small amounts of money aren’t going to get us out of the problem.

Frederica Freyberg:

What is the status — I know that because of this problem some of these major projects have been delayed, but what is the status in your district of the I-39/90 project?

Deb Kolste:

Well, that’s still a go, but it’s not supposed to be finished for another four years, so this is a system. And so there needs to be — you know, everything needs to be fixed. So while we’re held whole in this budget, that doesn’t necessarily hold true for the next budget if we don’t find a source of revenue.

Frederica Freyberg:

If bonding allows the interstate project in your district to proceed, are you still opposed to such borrowing as a funding mechanism?

Deb Kolste:

I’m not necessarily against bonding, but at the rates that we’ve bonded, it’s a cause for concern. I think in 2006 we were at 7%. I shouldn’t quote that number. But we are at 20% of, you know, to meet the cost of the bonding, and it’s supposed to level off at 25% of all revenue dollars would go for the cost of bonding. And that’s probably not a sustainable way to go. So although most major projects do need — have bonding on them, I think this is just not a sustainable path right now.

Frederica Freyberg:

You say quote the failure to address our crumbling road system is perhaps the governor’s most visible misstep. Wisconsin roads are ranked third worst in the nation. Democrats seem to be saying that Republicans made this problem. But what about during the democratic administration, when $1.4 billion was transferred out of the transportation fund to the general fund?

Deb Kolste:

Well, we rectified that problem by the constitutional amendment to keep road monies where it is. But over the long run, over the whole process of transferring GPR to transportation and transportation back to GPR, GPR has paid more into transportation than vice versa. So that problem has been rectified. The revenue that goes to transportation stays in transportation. The problem is there’s just not enough revenues into transportation, and I have grave concerns about where some more revenues might come, which would be out of general purpose revenue.

Frederica Freyberg:

What are your concerns about that?

Deb Kolste:

Because everything else comes out of general purpose revenue also. We already had to cut $250 million from the universities. If we continue to use more out of that to fix the infrastructure on the highways, something else is going to have get cut and that concerns me. Because we know Medicaid is going to continue to grow, just because we always have to meet the need. So programs like educational just take a hit and that concerns me a lot.

Frederica Freyberg:

What’s your position on cutting other taxes if gas taxes or registration fees have to go up?

Deb Kolste:

Well, it would be the same as taking from GPR. If we cut taxes, our problem is right now that we don’t have enough revenue to cover all the programming. The revenue for the transportation is expected to go up .5% and the cost of inflation for road projects is four times that. So we have a revenue problem in transportation. I don’t want to cut education.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. Representative Deb Kolste, thanks very much.

Deb Kolste:

Thank you. Appreciate it very much.