After Democrats could not reach a consensus Thursday on the regional transit proposals in Gov. Jim Doyle's budget, the future of high-speed passenger rail may be uncertain in Wisconsin.
However, the Joint Finance Committee did manage to reach an agreement on the state's film tax incentives program and voted unanimously to restore the film tax incentives that Doyle eliminated in his budget proposal.
The committee was scheduled to vote on the creation of regional transit authorities with the power to create new rail systems, but disagreement among Democratic members over the RTAs stalled the session until late in the night.
""There's a variety of [obstacles], and I think that's why they've been working so hard all day long … and maybe all night,"" Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk said.
The proposal would set up high-speed rail systems throughout the state, connecting Wisconsin cities such as Madison and Milwaukee, the two most prominent systems on the state's agenda.
Falk said the RTA systems would help boost the economy by ""getting people back to work and moving goods and people around the state."" At the same time, Falk recognized the issue of cost is keeping lawmakers up at night.
Currently, the proposal calls for a 0.5 percentage point increase in the Dane County sales tax and would cost the average household $172, according to Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates.
In Milwaukee, residents have already approved a full one percentage point sales tax increase that would fund RTA and other city programs, according to state Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, a member of the JFC. However, Hansen said he isn't sure the plan would work statewide.
""I have qualms because … I think it's always difficult to vote for a large sales tax increase,"" Hansen said.
Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz agreed RTAs are more appealing to some counties but said he is ""60 percent sure"" the provision would pass in Madison. Cieslewicz said he supports the proposal for Dane County, particularly to fix Madison's ailing Metro Bus system.
""I'm hopeful that an RTA might make it possible for us to go a very long time without having to raise the fares, so that's important,"" Cieslewicz said, adding an RTA would simplify matters by also allowing the city to reach parts of the county, like Monona, currently ignored by the Madison Metro for contractual reasons.
Others in favor of the proposal argue RTAs would open Wisconsin up to more of the Obama administration's proposed stimulus package for transportation, which could reach $500 billion, according to a statement by Ed Huck, executive director of the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities.
As of press time, the proposal was still stalled in its tracks.
