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One More Milestone Secured!

Assembly Improves and Advances Regional Transit Authority Proposal

On Friday morning June 13, leaders again showed their extraordinary commitment to transit and investing in jobs and economic growth when they passed a Regional Transit Authority amendment in the Assembly version of the state budget. The Assembly's actions keep the RTA moving forward with a target of aJuly 1 signing by Governor Doyle.

The amendment significantly strengthened the Joint Finance Committee's RTA proposal by crafting a truly regional transit authority plan that includes:

• A 3-county Southeast Regional Transit Authority to encompass local transit and KRM Commuter Rail
• Addresses funding for Racine and Kenosha buses
• Provides a dedicated funding source for transit in Milwaukee by designating 0.5% of the sales tax in Milwaukee specifically for transit
• Equitable board appointing structure
• Bonding sufficient for KRM

Click here to see a summary of the Assembly amendment.

Click here to see full amendment.

The Senate will now take up the budget and RTAs. They plan to complete their work by Friday, June 19 and send the budget on to conference committee or directly to the Governor for his final changes and approval.

Represenative Cory Mason of Racine was a leader in crafting the amendment. After the amendment passed, he explained in Wispolitics.com: "Getting this done is critically important for Racine and the region," Mason said, citing the 17 percent unemployment rate in his hometown. "If we're going to recover economically we have to plug into the region."

See Representative Cory Mason's comments on the RTA amendment.