Although they disagree on issues from health care to job creation, both gubernatorial candidates found common ground today when they pledged to the Transportation Development Association they would not raid their funds for other projects.
Republican Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and Democrat Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett told the TDA Tuesday that as Governor they would endorse an amendment preventing transfers from the state's segregated transportation fund, according to a statement by the TDA.
""Past raids on the transportation fund by Democrats and Republicans alike have created a crisis in maintaining our infrastructure that affects every corner of the state,"" Barrett said in a statement. ""As governor, my budget will not raid that fund—you have my word.""
Walker agreed he would also not permit any tampering with their funds.
""I will not tap the segregated transportation fund,"" Walker said in a statement. ""We need to protect against the raids that happened in the last couple of budgets.""
The amendment and reactions by the two candidates are due to Gov. Jim Doyle's transferring of nearly $1.3 billion from the transportation budget into the general state fund, according to Andrew Welhouse, spokesperson for the Republican Party of Wisconsin.
Barrett did not shy away from criticizing Doyle's role in the transfer, but also saw it as a bipartisan problem.
""There are unclean hands all over on this,"" Barrett said in a statement, adding that ""Governor Doyle and the Republican legislature committed the bipartisan sin"" of using money from the transportation fund to make up for a shortfall in the state budget.
