Politics & Government

Federal Transportation Funds Could be in Jeopardy if Budget Repair Bill Approved

$46.6 million at stake if collective bargaining is eliminated.

Federal transportation funds that hinge on workers being able to collective bargain was briefly at the center of the budget repair bill debate this morning in the State Assembly.

Depending on an interpretation of the statute, the state could lose $46.6 million in federal transportation grant money if collective bargaining is eliminated for public employees as a result of the passage of the budget repair bill. 

This could mean decreased federal funding for systems throughout Racine, Ozaukee and Waukesha and Washington counties that operate buses, senior transportation programs and shared-ride taxi services. 

Federal law stipulates that to receive public transit funds, collective bargaining between workers and employees must be in place at the local system level. 

Assembly Majority Leader Robin Vos, a Republican from Burlington, said he is "99 percent" sure that the state will not lose its federal transportation grant funding, based on his interpretation of the statute that dictates the disbursement of funds. 

"I am confident that the Obama administration is not going to cut out bus service to tens of thousands of people across the state to have some political agenda," Vos said. 

The Milwaukee County Transit System is a privately held entity that would not be affected if the state loses federal transportation funding. 

But smaller systems throughout the region would very likely be impacted, according to Kerry Thomas, Executive Director of Transit Now, a coalition of public transportation entities throughout southeastern Wisconsin. 

"A lot of the systems would end up with their total funding being cut in half," she said. "Some would be 30 percent, some would be half and some would be a little less but it would be a dramatic decline and devastating to our transit system."

Thomas added she believes that a decline in system resource would have an impact on the state's overall economy.  

"About half of the rides on transit throughout the state are used to get people to work," she said. "We are trying to get people employed right now and not cut them off from their jobs right now ... and here we are talking about something that will make it very difficult for people to get to school and work."


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