Finally, a plan to pay for Wisconsin roads

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.