For Immediate Release
September 13, 2018
Contact: Alex Japko, alexj@wisdems.org

Sec. Ross Admits Walker Neglected Roads, Mum on Gottlieb Criticism

Scott Walker was in Milwaukee this morning, and once again, he refused to take responsibility for his failure to fix Wisconsin’s roads. When asked about the “Scottholes” campaign, Walker proceeded to blame his predecessor while claiming that he’s “made significant investments in transportation and we will do so going forward.”

But that doesn’t exactly square with what Walker’s Transportation Sec. Dave Ross said in La Crosse Tuesday night. In a forum with the La Crosse Chamber of Commerce, Ross admitted that Walker hasn’t properly addressed the roads issue:

From the La Crosse Tribune report:

Wisconsin Transportation Secretary Dave Ross acknowledged Tuesday that the state has not adequately funded local roads, but he says the solution doesn’t involve increasing the revenue stream.

And even though some in Walker’s administration can admit they have a roads problem, they still have no solutions. La Crosse officials panned Ross’ plan to slice “the funding pie differently” without actually increasing funding:

The pie-slicing strategy suggested by Ross didn’t sound like a viable solution to La Crosse County Board Chair Tara Johnson and Highway Commissioner Ron Chamberlain…

“I have to disagree with the secretary on the funding stream issue,” Chamberlain added. “We haven’t seen inflationary increases to keep up with inflation. Simply reallocating existing funds does not address that issue.”

Wisconsin’s roads problem has been one long headache for Walker’s campaign. Just last weekend, Walker’s former Transportation Sec. Mark Gottlieb slammed Walker for his comments on highway expansion. When asked on Tuesday, Ross refused to push back on Gottlieb’s criticisms at all.

“For eight years, Scott Walker failed to fix Wisconsin’s roads, and it’s clear he’s all out of ideas,” said DPW spokesperson Alex Japko. “The Walker strategy is clear: he ducks questions while his administration pushes phony policies. But Wisconsinites – including his former transportation secretary and local officials – aren’t buying it anymore.

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