Scott Walker Aids Milwaukee Streetcar

In an unexpected twist to a seemingly never ending saga, Governor Scott Walker has actually come to the aid of the Milwaukee Streetcar project. The Governor has issued a partial veto of legislation that could have had a number of unintended consequences for the city and county.

As Matthew Taub of the Daily Reporter first reported, Rep. Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield) had a provision inserted into the state budget that was intended to insure that the city, not the county, pays for the operation of the streetcar. As I wrote last week, this has always been the stated intention from the office of Mayor Tom Barrett. My concern was that the language opened the door to the county billing the city for any decline in revenue resulting from a reduction in transit system ridership.

Similar to the concern I raised, Walker found the provision overly broad and used a Wisconsin governor’s powerful “Frankenstein veto” to clean up the language. The partial veto doesn’t alter language assuring  the city must pay to operate the streetcar, but eliminates potentially unintended consequences of this provision’s broad language.

Walker’s reason for vetoing the bill according to his veto message: “I am partially vetoing this provision to remove the phrase ‘or accommodation’ because I object to the inclusion of ambiguous language that may have unintended consequences. I am also removing this phrase because it is unnecessary as the intention of the provision may be achieved without the inclusion of this ambiguous phrase.”

Here is the provision’s text with the phrase now stricken from it in bold: “This provision directs that a county with a first class city may not incur any direct or indirect expenses, or forfeit revenue, related to the operation or accommodation of a rail fixed guideway transportation system in the first class city unless those expenses or revenues are reimbursed by the first class city.”

The veto from the Governor is one of 104 that he issued on the state budget. This total is up significantly from the 57 in the 2013 budget and 50 in the 2011 budget.

Walker will announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination for President tonight at an event in Waukesha County. He is widely expected to use a number of items from the budget in his stump speech, but don’t expect him to reference this veto.

As previously reported, the new anti-streetcar petition to have a referendum on having referendums will not impact the already approved system. Construction on the $123 million first phase and lakefront extension is scheduled to start in October.

Urban Milwaukee Streetcar Coverage

• Streetcar Construction Starts in October – Jeramey Jannene – July 10th, 2015
• The Strange Politics of Anti-Streetcar-ites – Bruce Murphy – June 18th, 2015
• Anti-Streetcar Petition Drive Fails – Bruce Murphy – March 5th, 2015
• Streetcar Signing Is Quite a Celebration – Michael Horne – February 13th, 2015
• Milwaukee Streetcar Approved – Jeramey Jannene – February 10th, 2015
• Who’s Lobbying for the Streetcar – Bruce Murphy – February 5th, 2015
• Will Streetcar Help the Inner City? – Bruce Thompson – February 4th, 2015
• City Attorney Says Streetcar Petitions Might be Moot – Bruce Murphy – January 30th, 2015
• Millennials And The Streetcar – Bruce Thompson – January 27th, 2015
• Streetcar Responses Show Wide Support – Jeramey Jannene – January 22nd, 2015
• Streetcar Approved, but Held – Jeramey Jannene – January 21st, 2015
• Koch-Funded Group Backs Anti-Streetcar Drive – Bruce Murphy – January 20th, 2015
• Streetcar Backers Say They Have the Votes – Jeramey Jannene – January 20th, 2015
• Who is Funding the Anti-Streetcar Effort? – Bruce Murphy – January 20th, 2015
• Will Anti-Streetcar Referendum Succeed? – Bruce Murphy – January 9th, 2015
• The Story Behind the Streetcar Referendum – Michael Horne and Bruce Murphy – January 8th, 2015
• Council Delays Streetcar Until January – Jeramey Jannene – December 16th, 2014
• Committee Takes No Action on Streetcar – Jeramey Jannene – December 10th, 2014
• Committee Approves Milwaukee Streetcar – Jeramey Jannene – December 9th, 2014
• RACM Approves Tax Funding for Streetcar – Michael Horne – December 8th, 2014
• How to Sell the Streetcar – Michael Horne – November 28th, 2014
• Next Stops for the Streetcar – Michael Horne – November 24th, 2014
• Barrett Moving Forward with Streetcar – Jeramey Jannene – November 18th, 2014
• Who Will Be Streetcar Operator – Michael Horne – May 8th, 2014
• A Streetcar Named Cooperation? – Dave Reid – April 27th, 2014
• How a Streetcar Spurs Development – Angie Schmitt – November 3rd, 2013
• Streetcar Social – Michael Horne – September 12th, 2013
• Mayor Says Streetcar is a “Trojan Horse” – Michael Horne – April 17th, 2013
• Whoops, We Changed Our Mind – Dave Reid – September 27th, 2012
• Battle of the Bobs: Donovan vs Bauman Streetcar Press Conference – Jeramey Jannene – May 18th, 2012
• Important Hoan Bridge and Milwaukee Streetcar Meetings This Week – Dave Reid – November 14th, 2011
• Milwaukee Streetcar Passes Common Council – Jeramey Jannene – July 26th, 2011
• Keep the Milwaukee Streetcar Moving Forward – Jeramey Jannene – July 8th, 2011
• Milwaukee Streetcar at Apex – Jeramey Jannene – June 16th, 2011
• Milwaukee Streetcar Takes Key Step Forward – Jeramey Jannene – May 6th, 2010
• Milwaukee Streetcar Meeting This Thursday – Jeramey Jannene – October 5th, 2009
• Milwaukee Streetcar Routes Unveiled by Mayor Barrett – Jeramey Jannene – September 21st, 2009
• Milwaukee Streetcar Round-Up – Jeramey Jannene – April 19th, 2009
• Vote for your Favorite Milwaukee Streetcar Route – Jeramey Jannene – March 25th, 2009
• Design Your Own Streetcar Route – Jeramey Jannene – March 23rd, 2009
• Streetcars Coming to Milwaukee – Dave Reid – March 14th, 2009