While Scott Walker has managed to deliver early on his promise to “Stop The train”, it appears that he has already backed away from his pledge to push for highway tolling. Glenn Grothman has also been floating the idea of requiring any significant municipal spending (other than on roads) to be subject to a referendum that must pass with 60% of the vote. Grothman’s intention is to make it difficult for things like commuter rail to be built in Wisconsin. There is a faint glimmer of logic from Steven Nass’s office, who have admitted that Republicans have engaged in earmarks that have built highways that are not warranted, but it is unlikely that there will be any serious attempt at reform.
It will be interesting to see whether Scott Walker’s promise to divert sales tax revenue into roads will pan out in the coming months.