The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation supports a long-term solution for transportation funding. Rob Richard, Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s Senior Director of Governmental Relations, testified on behalf of the organization’s members at the Informational Hearing on the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s 2017-19 Biennial Budget Proposal on December 6.
“Agriculture is heavily dependent on a good infrastructure of roadways and bridges to move farm equipment for the planting and harvesting of crops, and then to ultimately move the harvest efficiently to grain facilities and food processing plants throughout the state,” Richard said. “As the agriculture industry evolves so must the local road and bridge infrastructure that supports it.”
Wisconsin Farm Bureau members recognize the need to increase transportation funds to ensure we have an adequate transportation infrastructure. A significant portion of the new funding needs to be allocated to local roads and bridges.
“We are on a path of borrowing and debt levels that our members are not comfortable with,” Richard said. “The fuel tax, vehicle registration fees, farm truck registration fees, the environmental fee, a local sales tax, tolling and a new vehicle tax are all funding options that our policy supports to help create a sustainable, long-term fix.”
“The members of the Assembly Committee on Transportation appreciated hearing that farmers are willing to be a part of the solution when it comes to finding reasonable revenue streams to fund a statewide highway network that is in dire need of investment,” Richard said.
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