Governor Evers signed the 2023-25 budget on July 5 with 51 partial vetoes and no impact on the total biennial transportation budget.

Vetoes of note include scaling back the Republican-passed tax cut by eliminating the rate reductions for the two highest brackets and increasing the amount K-12 public schools can raise per student by $325 a year until 2425.

In his veto message, Governor Evers framed his signing of the budget modified by his partial vetoes as giving the legislature a second chance and the money necessary to invest in priorities the governor deems essential to Wisconsin’s workforce and economy.

With his veto pen, the governor made the following modifications to the transportation budget passed by the legislature:

• General Transportation Aids (GTA) – Deleted the 2% calendar year GTA mileage aid payment increases, referencing the unaddressed disparate impact of 2011 Wisconsin Act 32 (GTA reduction justified by Act 10) on the mileage aid versus share of cost components of the GTA formula. The governor retained the 2% calendar year increases in 2024 and 2025 for municipal and county GTA. WisDOT first determines the amount of municipal GTA under the rate per mile component of the program, which is generally towns, and the remainder is distributed to cities and most villages on a share of cost basis. The impact of the reduction in mileage aid payments will be a larger pot of money for cities and villages receiving GTA via a share of cost. County GTA is a separate appropriation. 
• Freight Rail Preservation Program – Nixed a provision requiring WisDOT to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the Freight Rail Preservation Program and submit a report to the Joint Committee on Finance no later than June 30, 2025, as the department is already able to provide such analysis at its discretion. Instead, the governor directs the department to update its Intermodal Facility Study.
• Mississippi River Parkway Commission – Removed a requirement that WisDOT assigns the equivalent of a 0.1 FTE position from the duties of the bicycle and pedestrian coordinator position to provide administrative assistance to the commission, objecting to “this level of micromanaging of the department.”
• Fee for Identification Sticker for Electric Vehicles – Eliminated a $1 fee, estimated to generate $19,000 over the biennium, for manufacturing and distributing decals identifying hybrid and non-hybrid electric vehicles as the fee is unnecessary. The purpose of the decal is to alert emergency personnel of the unique safety concerns of these vehicles. 

The governor’s veto message is available here.