A state representative proposed legislation last week that would immediately halt the $810 million project to build a high-speed rail line between Madison and Milwaukee.
The state Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee voted in February to accept federal stimulus money to fund the project, which would also improve infrastructure on the already existing Chicago-Milwaukee line and investigate the possibility of extending the line to the Twin Cities.
The project is part of President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In February, Obama pledged $8 billion to fund high-speed rail projects across the country.
Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, proposed a bill Tuesday that would require authorization by the entire Legislature before the state could spend any federal, state or local money on rail projects. It would also immediately stop the Milwaukee-Madison rail project.
Davis said in a press conference he proposed the bill because he has many concerns and questions about the project that remain unanswered. Several of the “red flags” Davis identified include Gov. Jim Doyle’s no-bid deal with the Spanish company Talgo to build trains in Milwaukee, as well as the taxpayer money that would be used to fund the project.
According to Davis, the project will be $17.6 million short of the Department of Transportation’s initial estimate, and the fiscal bureau has estimated it will take at least $7.5 million a year in state subsidies to operate the rail. Roundtrip tickets will cost about $60, which Davis said he sees as too expensive.
“Some will say it’s only federal money, but we must remember that federal money is the taxpayer’s money,” Davis said at the press conference. “People all across Wisconsin are simply saying this, ‘We can’t afford this train, we don’t want this train and we don’t need this train.'”
Milwaukee County Executive and Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker also attended the press conference in support of the bill. Walker said the project represents a “disconnect” between Doyle and Wisconsin voters.
Walker said a “handful” of legislators in the JFC should not be the ones to make such a huge decision on how to spend the money, and there are economic needs and other transportation projects in the state that should take priority.
“It is time for us to stand up and put the government back on the side of the people, in this case that means standing up with taxpayers who want their transportation infrastructure dollars spent on the things that need fixing now, not on something that’s a pipe-dream for the future,” Walker said.
Adam Collins, Doyle’s spokesperson, said the bill has no chance of passing before the Legislature session ends April 22. He said the project is a great economic development opportunity and is a “big win” for the state.
Phil Walzak, spokesperson for Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett’s gubernatorial campaign, said if the project was stopped in Wisconsin, it would just be sent to another state and we would lose thousands of jobs.
“We cannot allow ideology and partisanship to get in the way of progress,” Walzak said.
