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2/19/2009
Ellis: Toll roads not needed; STOP Transportation Fund raids
Budget problems in the state’s transportation fund have less to do with declining gas tax revenues and much more to do with raids on the fund to balance the state’s general budget, state Senator Michael Ellis said today. Ellis also criticized recent comments by Governor Doyle signaling the governor’s support for toll roads in Wisconsin.
“Apparently, Governor Doyle’s appetite for new taxes and tax increases is inexhaustible,” Ellis said. “Just two days after he proposed a $272 million tax on oil companies – a tax that will ultimately be borne by Wisconsin drivers – and at a time when Wisconsin is slated to get $550 million in federal stimulus dollars for highway and other transportation projects, he’s running around the state saying we may need to have tollways in Wisconsin.
“The problem with the transportation fund isn’t that we don’t tax enough,” Ellis said. “The problem is that Jim Doyle – unfortunately with the help of the legislature – has used the transportation fund as his personal cookie jar to bail out the general fund.’
Since 2003, more than $1.2 billion has been transferred from the transportation fund to be used in the state’s general fund, Ellis noted. Then, the state borrowed money to pay for the transfers.
As a result, the amount of the transportation fund needed to repay the principal and interest on that borrowing has grown tremendously, Ellis said.
“In 1999, debt service constituted 7 percent of the total transportation fund,” Ellis said. “Today, debt service is more than 11 percent of the total – and that number is growing even higher in the next budget.
“That’s a direct result of raiding the highway fund to pay for general fund programs,” Ellis said.
“We don’t need toll roads, higher gas taxes and higher vehicle registration fees. We need to stop diverting those transportation revenues away from transportation projects.”
Mike Ellis is a Republican and represents the residents of the 19th Senate District.
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| 2009 |
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