3-8-17 gop leaders differ on using more tax dollars for roads

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says shifting more tax dollars toward roads in the next budget isn’t a long-term solution for transportation funding.  But his fellow Republican, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, says doing that could give lawmakers “breathing room” for a few years while they look for a more permanent solution.  How to pay for ongoing major road projects in Wisconsin is one of the most vexing problems facing the Legislature this year. A new analysis by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau has updated the price tag on rebuilding Interstate 39 from Madison to the Illinois state line to $1.75 billion.  That includes $550 million to rebuild the interchange where the interstate connects with Madison’s Beltline on the south side.  The Fiscal Bureau says all of the project, except the interchange, should be done by 2021.