RACINE COUNTY — A virtual "Who’s Who" of Racine area
business leaders has collectively written the state Assembly speaker
urging legislative action on commuter rail.

Tuesday’s letter from 14 top executives was addressed to
Assembly Speaker Michael Huebsch, a Republican from La Crosse. It asks
him to support the proposed local funding method for a Metra rail
extension from Kenosha to Milwaukee.

KRM would operate 14 daily round trips in a 33-mile corridor with nine
stops and carry an estimated 1.7 million passengers per year.

The rail service would use the existing Union Pacific Railroad track
into the downtown Milwaukee area. Passengers would connect with
Chicago’s Metra commuter rail by changing trains at Kenosha or
Waukegan, Ill.

"The business community in (Southeastern) Wisconsin strongly supports
the proposed KRM commuter rail line and the three-county rental car
fee which would fund the local share of capital and operating costs,"
the executives wrote.

Under the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority plan, the
current $2 fee each time a car is rented would increase to $15. That
would raise an estimated $4.9 million per year in the three KRM
counties.

The fee would constitute the major local funding method — for
both capital and operating costs — apart from tax subsidies.

Just as importantly, an application for a federal New Starts grant for
half of the estimated $200 million capital costs is doomed without a
local funding method in place.

Although the RTA adopted the car rental fee as the local KRM funding
mechanism, that requires legislative authorization. The rental fee
authorization is in the Democratic-controlled Senate’s state
budget version, but not in the Republican-controlled Assembly version.

A joint conference committee has so far been unable to resolve the
differences between the two houses’ budgets.

"As business people and employers, we believe KRM will attract new
business and spur economic development, and allow employers in the
region to draw from a wider pool of workers and talent," the letter to
Huebsch states.

"Commuter rail has a proven record of success around the country in
densely populated areas like the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor. We
believe KRM will provide a significant boost to the local communities
along the route and our state’s overall economy.

"We urge the Legislature to adopt the recommendations of the (RTA)
which are contained in the Senate version of the budget," the letter
concludes.

It is signed by the top executives of Putzmeister America, Case-New
Holland, Twin Disc, Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-All Saints,
Merchants Moving & Storage Co., Norco Manufacturing, Wispark, Johnson
Financial Group, Johnson Keland Management, SC Johnson, Kranz Inc.,
Modine Manufacturing Co., Ruud Lighting and In-Sink-Erator.

Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, said Thursday that his party continues to
try to get a whole state budget deal which includes the KRM funding.
He said the letter to Huebsch should have some impact despite being
from nonconstituents of his.

"It’s remarkable," Lehman said. "(Business executives) are
coming to me and saying, ‘We’ve got to have this
thing.’ And they’re not afraid to move across party
lines."