The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is poised to receive a $405 million increase over two years as part of Gov. Jim Doyle's biennial budget.

The DOT would receive the 8.7 percent increase in funding to maintain pavement quality, reconstruct several main highways, improve rail systems and encourage renewable fuel resource availability.

Doyle spokesperson Carla Vigue said the Democratic governor believes that, in order to have a strong economy, it is necessary to have a strong transportation infrastructure.

The improvements would "make it a little bit easier for businesses to get the products they need from Wisconsin out and [products] from other places in," Vigue said.

The budget proposal would also increase Wisconsin's vehicle registration fee by $20 and "assess oil companies for a portion of their excess profits" — provisions that Vigue said would help the state maintain a robust roads program amid the increasing costs of building materials.

Vigue added that despite the increase, Wisconsin would still have the lowest vehicle registration fee in the Midwest.

State Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, said the proposed tax on oil companies would likely be passed directly to consumers at the pump.

"[Doyle] called it a tax on oil company profits, but anybody studying economics … knows that in the end, the people who pay the price tag are always the consumers," Vos said.

Vos suggested Doyle should "be honest about it" and not "do it in a way that attempts to put [the tax] on the backs of oil companies."

Department of Administration spokesperson Scott Larrivee disputed Vos' theory, citing a 1998 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Larrivee said Justice Antonin Scalia "made it abundantly clear that the states have the power to shield consumers."

Doyle's budget also encourages an increased use of renewable fuel by providing $1 million annually in tax credits to "assist businesses to meet the cost of installing renewable fuel pumps and related infrastructure."

Vos said while it is reasonable to encourage E85 pumps — which supply a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent unleaded gasoline for use in flexible fuel vehicles — he doesn't believe ethanol is the answer to Wisconsin's long-term independence from fossil fuels.

"I believe ethanol plays a stopgap role, but as a 'be-all, end-all,' it's not good," Vos said.

Pursuing electric cars, he added, could have more promise.

State Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, said it is important to encourage all kinds of energy-efficient biofuels, including diesel substitutes based on various perennial grasses and other crops. Such renewable fuel sources, he added, have "a very important future."

Black said the DOT budget leans too heavily toward constructing larger roads in urban areas and not heavily enough on renewable energy.

Vos said it is important to have a strong and efficient transportation system in Wisconsin, but said he hopes to "find some common ground, where we don't look at [the fund] as a piggy bank, but as an investment."