Expectations are rising that a motion will be introduced in the Joint Finance Committee to fund the proposed Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail line.
Sources expect an amendment to the 2007-09 budget that would include a proposed $13 increase in car rental fees for Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties. A vote is expected later this month when the committee takes up the transportation section of the bill. The KRM project would run on existing rail along a 33-mile corridor between southeastern Wisconsin cities, from Kenosha to Milwaukee.
JFC member Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, said today he'd be willing to propose the motion.
"I'm not sure who's going to bring the motion, but I could," Lehman said.
The Wisconsin Car Rental is slamming the RTI-approved fee hike, calling it a 650 percent tax increase, and said it would have a negative impact on tourism.
"I can't imagine a worse first impression on visitors than a tax rate higher than any state in the Union," said WICRA Board Member Dan Ewald in a press release.
See the release
here.
Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, said he wouldn't support a motion to increase the tax unless it included a referendum.
Vos said he is hoping to put a referendum on commuter rail on the presidential primary ballot in February. He called the June application deadline "artificially created" and said the grants are up for grabs each year.
"I cannot see us sneaking this into the budget in the middle of the night without public comment," he said. "I think we have to have an open, honest public debate."
Lehman said his district -- which includes Vos' Assembly seat -- stands to benefit greatly from the proposed commuter rail line, and said he hopes Vos reconsiders his opposition.
"He's not hearing the same kind of voices I'm hearing from," he said. Lehman said the rail line has tremendous support from the business community and citizens.
"You can ask for a referendum on anything, but we have a representative government, and sometimes it's up to the representatives to make these decisions," he said.
Vos doubts the rental fee increase will get support from Republicans on the JFC, who have taken a strict no new taxes stance.
"I can't speak for anybody else, but I find it hard to believe with the position we're taking -- that the people of Wisconsin are over-burdened by taxes -- we would say, 'Except just in this one case,'" he said.
Labels: KRM Line, Lehman, Vos
