Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said Tuesday he is not ruling out using state funds to build a passenger rail line between the cities of Madison and Milwaukee that would also expand connections between Chicago and St. Paul, Minnesota.
Evers told The Associated Press that he supports the proposed rail project, but was waiting to see what federal funds might become available before committing state resources. On February 15, Evers will deliver a two-year state budget to the Republican-controlled Legislature.
The Legislature will spend the spring rewriting that plan, before approving a budget likely in late June.
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Top Republican state legislators have already voiced their opposition to the rail project. When asked about the rail line earlier this month, Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said only, “There’s no state funding.”
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers speaks during an event in Milwaukee, on September 5, 2022. Evers said on December 20, 2022 that he is not ruling out the use of state funds to build a passenger rail line between the cities of Madison and Milwaukee, which would also expand connections between Chicago and St. Paul, Minnesota.
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu expressed concern last week about the outcome of the bill.
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“I don’t think there’s any point in building a rail, even if it’s mostly with federal money, if we’re stuck subsidizing it for the next 30 years,” he told the AP.
Former Republican Gov. Scott Walker opposed a similar rail line when he ran for governor in 2010 and later scrapped the project, which the federal government reportedly funded with $810 million.
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“I thought Scott Walker’s decision years ago continues to haunt us,” Evers said Tuesday. “But with that said, we’ll see what the federal government has available to us.”
