Road projects could suffer without budget repair, Busalacchi warns
Department of Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi's message this week to contractors that May and June project lets "could be negatively impacted" without swift budget action has caused alarm by the Transportation Development Association of Wisconsin.
Busalacchi said in a letter posted Wednesday on the DOT's Highway Construction Contact Information Web site that contractors should be aware of the state's projected revenue shortfall and its possible impact on future road projects. He said the allocations for May and June lets "could be reduced dramatically" if action is not taken shortly on a budget adjustment bill.
The state faces a revenue shortfall over $650 million in this biennium, according to LFB estimates. The Doyle administration has cut the defict to $525 million with administrative maneuvers, but an agreement on how to address the balance has been mired in discussions between Doyle and legislative leaders.
Doyle had proposed transferring $257 million from the transportation fund and backfilling the borrowing with bonds to help plug the budget hole.
In a press release today, TDA executive director Craig Thompson praised legislative leaders for rejecting the Doyle proposal, but said Busalacchi's letter shows the Doyle administration is not willing to give up the proposal.
"What the secretary is talking about is redirecting hundreds of millions of dollars from road projects resulting in the loss of thousands of Wisconsin jobs," Thompson said.
UPDATE: The Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association has also weighed in with a letter to legislators urging them to quickly pass a budget repair bill that does not include a transportation fund transfer.
"As you know, the Administration has indicated it will transfer a significant amount of revenue from the transportation fund if there is not a budget agreement in the next ten days. According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, this transfer would result in a significant portion or all of the May and June lettings to be indefinitely postponed. That action would result in the potential loss of $261 million in projects, which would lead to the loss of 2,000 construction jobs in Wisconsin," reads the letter.
See the Busalacchi letter here.
See the press release from the TDA here.
See the WTBA letter here.
The WTBA letter also includes a list of road projects that may be impacted. See it here.
Labels: Budget_Repair_Bill, Transportation
