The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority (RTA) agreed
unanimously Monday to pursue several legislative options to advance
both the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) commuter rail and public
transit for the region.

The board reached consensus to broaden its approach to focus on a
total transit solution, by trying to advance both simultaneously.

After reviewing the outcome of the state budget process, the RTA
agreed that it would review the potential legislative options
available and leverage the continued "enthusiastic support of business
and civic leaders" to achieve consensus from local and state elected
officials on how to best fund both public transit and KRM.
Several options the Authority will consider include potential support
for or modification to legislation currently proposed by the Alliance
of Cities; separate legislation to be introduced during the current
session; or a new budget request for the 2009-2011 biennial budget.

The board cited continued support from the community for a solution to
local transit and commuter rail discussions, including a renewed
effort by the Milwaukee 7 in support of transit issues, the
Miller-Coors headquarters debate and recent comments by Patrick Ryan,
a Milwaukee native and executive chairman of Aon Corporation, who is
heading up Chicago's efforts to secure the 2016 Olympic bid.

At a recent meeting of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, Ryan said that
transportation was the greatest challenge that must be addressed in
competing for the 2016 Olympics.

"I continue to be encouraged by the amount of progress we've made and
business support that has been demonstrated for creation of KRM and a
solution to the public transit funding issue," said Karl Ostby,
chairman of the RTA. "Because of the continued support we've heard
from regional business leaders, and because transportation plays a key
role in economic decisions such as the Miller-Coors merger and
Chicago's Olympic bid, we remain steadfast in our goal of addressing
these transit issues."

In addition, the group considered whether to put on hold its federal
funding application for the KRM, as the application would be
considered incomplete without identifying a local funding source for
the project. The meeting concluded with the group agreeing to
reconvene in December to recommend next steps regarding potential
legislative proposals and the FTA application.

The RTA was created by the Wisconsin State Legislature and governor in
July 2005 to serve Kenosha, Milwaukee and Racine counties. The RTA is
responsible for identifying a permanent, dedicated funding source for
the local share of capital and operating costs for commuter rail and
public transit in the region.

Meanwhile, the Milwaukee 7 Regional Economic Development Council met
this morning in Delavan this morning to discuss the importance of
investing in a regional transportation system and to establish the
Milwaukee region as a "Water Capital."
The Milwaukee 7 Regional Transit Panel includes: State Rep. Robin Vos
(R-Caledonia); Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian; Dennis Kuester, chairman
of Marshall & Ilsley Corp.; and Jane Hutterly, executive vice
president or worldwide corporate and environmental affairs, S.C.
Johnson & Son Inc.