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Joint Finance Committee deals setback to commuter rail
Published June 1, 2007 - BizTimes Daily
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Republicans on the state legislature's Joint Finance Committee on Thursday rejected the proposed rental car tax increase to fund the proposed KRM Commuter Rail service between Kenosha, Racine and downtown Milwaukee.
However, the proposal is far from being dead.
The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority, which has representatives from the cities and counties of Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha, approved a proposal to increase the car rental tax in those counties by $13, from $2 per rental to $15 per rental, to fund the commuter rail service. However, the tax increase must be approved by the legislature.
On an 8-8 vote Thursday, the Joint Finance Committee failed to add the tax increase to the state budget. All eight of the Democrats on the committee voted in favor of the tax increase for KRM, and all eight of the Republicans on the committee voted against it. The Milwaukee-area Democrats on the committee voting in favor of the KRM tax increase included Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee), Sen. John Lehman (D-Racine) and Rep. Pedro Colon (D-Milwaukee). The Republicans on the committee voting against the KRM tax increase include Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale), Rep. Steve Kestell (R-Elkhart Lake), Rep. Robin Vos (R-Caledonia) and Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills).
Although the Joint Finance Committee vote is a blow to the KRM proposal, it could resurface later in the budget process. The Democrat-controlled state Senate could add the KRM rental car tax increase to its budget. Assuming the Republican-controlled state Assembly would not do the same, the matter could come down to conference committee negotiations on the final budget that will be presented by the legislature to Gov. Jim Doyle.
Doyle has said he will support funding for KRM if it gets to his desk.
"I'm expecting it to re-emerge in the Senate Democrat version of the budget," Lehman told SBT this morning. "My expectation is it then will move to the conference committee. It will have good support in the conference committee. One of the members is (Rep.) Jim Kreuser (D-Kenosha), who is a strong supporter. We have a lot of people working on this project. I think there is a broad base of support for it."
Stone supports the KRM, but he voted against it Thursday because he opposes the $13 increase in the car rental tax, said Michael Pyritz, Stone's legislative aide.
"He is advocating for and is trying to do everything he can to help move that project forward," Pyritz said. "It is going to be a pro-growth, pro-business, pro-value to the area."
Instead of the car rental tax increase, Stone and state Sen. Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee) are pushing a proposal to eliminate emissions testing for vehicles in southeastern Wisconsin. The state spends about $14 million a year on the emissions testing, Pyritz said. Some of that money could be used instead to operate KRM, he said. To eliminate the emissions testing, the state would have to convince the U.S. EPA that the air quality of the Milwaukee area has improved so the emissions tests are no longer needed and the funding for it can be better used elsewhere, such as mass transit systems.
Several business leaders and business organizations have thrown their support behind the KRM proposal, saying commuter rail would stimulate development near the train stations and would help attract workers to the region. To see the list of the individuals and organizations who have endorsed the KRM proposal go to www.transitnow.org/key-endorser-list.html.
The KRM project also has received the support of several local business people, such Gary Billington and Bob Welke, who have written Milwaukee Biz Blogs about the subject.
"The corporate leaders in Racine really believe this is going to make a difference in our community," Lehman said.
However, the car rental tax would hurt local businesses because it would have to be paid by many business travelers who visit the area, Pyritz said.
"We think there is a better way (to fund KRM)," Pyritz said. "There are better options out there."
