Contact: Sen. Tim Carpenter
(608) 266-8535
(MADISON) – State Senator Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) yesterday sent a letter to Governor Scott Walker asking that certain transportation “pork” items be vetoed from the state budget.
“Specifically, these veto requests pertain to earmarks (“pork”) for very specific transportation-related projects or projects that while maybe warranted, fail to take into account the necessity of completing the Zoo Interchange project in Milwaukee and addressing the deteriorating condition of local roads throughout the state,” Carpenter wrote.
Carpenter’s letter referenced funding for projects such as the airport improvement plans for Appleton International Airport and Alexander Field in Wisconsin Rapids. The Alexander Field project gained some notoriety recently when it was revealed the $4 million contained within the state budget was not included in the Governor’s original proposal, but was added after the developer of a golf course near the airport donated $25,000 to the Republican Party.
Carpenter’s letter also stated, “By eliminating the specific earmarks I have mentioned and then allocating the same funding to the Local Roads Improvement program, you could increase funding statewide for local roads improvement by $28,300,000…the reallocation I’m suggesting would amount to an increase of 51% for the Local Roads Improvement program.”