Pressure is building on Wisconsin Governor-elect Scott Walker to cut a deal and reverse his campaign pledge to stop a federally funded high-speed project that would connect Milwaukee to Madison.
Walker is being taunted on billboards and in the blogosphere for landing federal dollars and creating jobs – in Illinois. Even the conservative Wisconsin State Journal, which had endorsed Walker for governor, is calling on him to do a 180-degree pivot and jump onboard for the train, as are some business interests such as the Watertown Area Chamber of Commerce and Milwaukee business leader Sheldon Lubar.
Walker says the state cannot afford the estimated $7.5 million annual operating costs for high-speed rail.
However, the latest estimate by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation says a federal formula could reduce the state’s share of the annual operating costs to $750,000. Let’s do the math. According to the U.S. Census, Wisconsin has 5.7 million residents. That means that the state’s annual costs to operate the high-speed rail line could be about 13 cents per resident.
On the other hand, Walker also is promising to do what is necessary to create 250,000 new jobs in Wisconsin in his first four years in office.
Let’s be clear. The twin missions of the state’s fiscal health and job creation would be jeopardized by Walker’s refusal to accept $810 million in federal funds for high-speed rail. That’s because it could cost the state north of $100 million to give back what has already been spent on the project. In addition, the state would not receive the jobs that would be created to build and operate the line, as well as the rail car manufacturing jobs that Talgo Inc. may move out of Milwaukee to Illinois.
And then there’s the very real possibility that the City of Milwaukee may file a lawsuit against the state to recover $3 million the city invested in the former Tower Automotive site for Talgo.
So far, Walker was sticking to his guns. Although pressure is building, we would be shocked if he reverses that position.
The first reason is obvious. Just follow the money. According to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, Walker received $84,793 from roadbuilders between January of 2009 and August of 2010, and plenty more between August and the election, which is still to be reported. To approve spending on trains instead of roads would be an affront to one of Walker’s key campaign contributors. (And yes, I know that both sides are loyal to their sugar daddies … The Democrats are loath to betray labor unions, trial lawyers and environmental groups.)
The second reason Walker won’t flinch is he knows that if he did, his conservative talk radio host base – which served as a loyal and free marketing service for his gubernatorial campaign – would blow a head gasket. They hate trains. Just imagine their outrage if he were to cave in now.
The third reason Walker is not likely to reverse himself is principle. We can’t imagine him changing his mind, even if the Feds offer to pay for virtually all of the operating costs of the train in Wisconsin for the foreseeable future. We believe he genuinely thinks this train would be a “boondoggle.”
And Walker could be right about that. For better or worse, it’s beginning to look like we’ll never know. The best rail advocates can hope for now may be a compromised plan that would enable Walker to save face with his base.
Steve Jagler is executive editor of BizTimes Milwaukee.
