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As I See It

We agree our roads are bad. Can we agree on how to pay to fix them?

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There is little debate as to the poor condition of Wisconsin’s roads. The rub is how to pay to fix them. Under Governor Scott Walker, the state put off many road projects, and paid for the roads that were repaired on a credit card. New Governor Tony Evers wants to stop kicking the can down the road, and come up with a sustainable, long-term funding plan for transportation needs. Evers’ idea is to increase the state’s gas tax by 8 cents a gallon, and increase other fees that could put an additional $600 million into the state’s transportation fund. That is running into republican opposition in Madison, even though some of these same lawmakers also pleaded with then Governor Walker to do more to fix our roads. A survey by AAA finds mixed sentiment for how to increase transportation funding. When polled, only 25% of people supported raising the gas tax. But that is still a higher percentage than support other ideas for raising road money, like building toll roads or a road usage charge. Meanwhile, another survey finds six in ten people don’t think the state is doing enough to fund road work. So they admit the state’s roads are in bad shape, but only one-fourth support coming up with more money to fix them. We can’t have it both ways. If we agree our roads need work, then we have to find the money to fix them. And given that Wisconsin’s roads are so bad they are costing drivers an average of $637 in repairs caused by the bad roads, we may end up saving money under Evers’ plan.

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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