Builders rally against gas tax for carbon research

Published: April 7, 2010
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Comments: 1

By Sean Ryan
A proposal to use a federal gasoline tax increase to pay for carbon-emissions research is frustrating builder associations that want the money for highway construction.
“Ultimately, we have very limited opportunities to make the investment that everybody says we need in our transportation system,” said Brian Turmail, spokesman for the Associated General Contractors of [...]

Simple answer for road woes

Published: March 5, 2010
Tags: , , , ,

To the editor:
The filibuster is over but the lesson lives on.
Incredible as it seems, the nation’s most important source of surface transportation funding lapsed this month for the first time in its history due to a bizarre argument in which, somehow, both sides were simultaneously right and dead wrong.
On one side of the argument, a [...]

Federal highway plan rolls toward deadline

Published: September 23, 2009
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Sean Ryan
sean.ryan@dailyreporter.com

Wisconsin’s fragile status as a winner in federal transportation payments is at stake as construction associations pressure Congress to pass a new law to pay for roadwork.
“The ideal would be for Congress and the administration to come to agreement on a long-term transportation package that provides adequate transportation revenue, and that Wisconsin maintains the [...]

Gas tax increase pits builders against voters

Published: July 24, 2009
Tags: , , , , ,
Comments: 3

Sean Ryan
sean.ryan@dailyreporter.com
A federal gas tax increase might be the easiest way to pay for national highway construction and the hardest proposal to slip past voters.
Proponents of such an increase have failed in every attempt for the last 16 years.
But Congress is considering a six-year, $500 billion transportation reauthorization bill to replace the soon-to-expire law, [...]

Commentary: Driving better transportation is a must

Published: July 17, 2009
Tags: , , ,

Joe Nathanson
Dolan Media Newswires
Baltimore, MD - Congress is wrestling with how and when to reauthorize the nation’s primary money mechanism for building and maintaining roads, bridges, and mass transit lines — the Surface Transportation Act of 2009. It provides money through federal fiscal year 2015. The current authorization ends Sept. 30.
The new six-year reauthorization would [...]

Roadwork grows state deficit woes

Published: July 9, 2009
Tags: , , , , , ,
Comments: 1

Paul Snyder
paul.snyder@dailyreporter.com
The state’s road map to paying for highway construction during the next two years will drive up the budget deficit the Legislature spent months trying to close.
Jon Dyck, a fiscal analyst with the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, said the state will be on the hook for 10 to 20 years paying off the $204.7 million [...]

Road money uncertainty plagues industry

Published: May 29, 2009
Tags: , , , , ,
Comments: 1

Paul Snyder
paul.snyder@dailyreporter.com
The oil-franchise fee is on its way to the state Assembly with waning support from lawmakers and a road-building industry wondering how the state will pay for projects.
“We thought (the transportation fund) was safe in the past, but ever since they took (gas-tax) indexing away, it’s been a question,” said Mike Ryan, president of [...]

Budget albatross weighs on Doyle

Published: May 8, 2009
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comments: 3

It’s crunch time in Madison as unemployment and tax revenue numbers grow worse.
As May started, unemployment numbers were nearing double digits and grim news of layoffs continued to dominate the news. Those news items stretch from next year’s closing of the Chrysler engine plant in Kenosha and the future loss of its 380 jobs to [...]

Growing budget deficit threatens oil fee

Published: May 7, 2009
Tags: , , , , , ,

Paul Snyder
paul.snyder@dailyreporter.com
Opposition to Gov. Jim Doyle’s proposed oil franchise fee grows louder as the state’s budget deficit grows larger.
“As far as it goes, most of us have already realized we’ll be looking at years’ worth of legal fees if we choose that direction,” said state Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, and member of the Joint Committee [...]

THE DAILY REPORTER EVENT CALENDAR

THIS MONTH'S WISCONSIN BUILDER



The tree architect

Roald Gundersen’s ideas are as big as the trees he shinnies up like a man half his age. The Stoddard-based “tree architect” wants to take wood construction far beyond the rustic cottages with which people associate him, but first he has to convince builders and architects of trees’ potential. Caley Clinton heads to western Wisconsin to see what future the forest holds.

Check out the Wisconsin Builder site.