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Olsen Concerned About Transportation Budget
By John Forester(Don't Use) | April 7, 2011
At the same time Governor Scott Walker is proposing deep cuts to education and local governments, he is shoring up the state’s transportation fund with $317 million in new money. And that fact has not gone unnoticed by the chairman of the Senate Education Committee.
“I just am concerned that the transportation budget is not sacrificing too much where all the other folks we deal with are,” said Senator Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) during a Monday briefing before the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee.
Olsen said he was concerned about transferring money out of the general fund because it could otherwise go toward schools and local governments, which face a nearly $1 billion cut over two years to balance the state’s budget.
Olsen noted that transportation projects received generous funding through the federal stimulus bill in the last biennium — which was also a painful session for local governments.
“This is hard to justify in an era of shared budget sacrifice, said Olsen.
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