The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) announced the appointment of Kristina Boardman as the agency’s next deputy secretary. She will oversee the department's operations, which include 3,200 employees, dozens of field offices, and a biennial budget of more than $8 billion.

Boardman has 28 years of state government service and previously served as WisDOT’s Division of Motor Vehicles administrator. She is also chair of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) International Board of Directors.

Boardman replaces outgoing Deputy Secretary Paul Hammer, who will become deputy secretary at the Wisconsin Department of Administration. 

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) has updated and adopted the 2023 State Freight Plan and also published the Wisconsin Rail Plan. These plans provide a vision for WisDOT’s multimodal freight program and freight rail, rail crossing safety, and passenger rail.

In the latter part of July, the House and Senate appropriations committees passed transportation appropriations bills. The Senate Committee on Appropriations unanimously passed its fiscal year (FY) 2024 transportation spending proposal, providing resources slightly higher than those enacted in FY 2023.

Conversely, the House Committee on Appropriations approved, on a party-line vote of 34 to 27, a FY 2024 bill that would reduce year-over-year funding by providing fewer discretionary general fund dollars. This reduction is part of a push by House conservatives to cut federal spending beyond the levels agreed to as part of the debt ceiling deal reached earlier this year.

The Eno Center for Transportation summarized the most significant difference between the two bills: “... the House bill solves part of its budget problem by severely cutting or eliminating the regular, annual funding for major grant programs that also receive funding from the IIJA.”

A schedule comparing regular, annual appropriations (excluding IIJA advanced appropriations) is available here.

The committee votes are only the first steps toward finalizing FY 2024 transportation appropriations.

The House and Senate are officially on the annual August recess, with the Senate returning Tuesday, Sept. 5, and the House on Tuesday, Sept. 12. This timing makes a stopgap continuing resolution starting on Oct. 1 almost a certainty.

On July 20, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3935, the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act, with a resoundingly bipartisan vote of 351-69. The $100 billion bill would reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and aviation safety and infrastructure programs for the next five years, providing the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) with $4 billion annually. This $650 million increase over the previous level is the first in almost two decades. 

The Senate continues to work on resolving issues that stalled its bill in committee in June. A significant area of contention relates to pilot training requirements.

The current aviation authorization expires on Sept. 30, with at least one short-term continuing resolution likely.

Like consumer inflation, transportation construction inflation is showing signs of easing. According to the Federal Highway Administration’s recently released National Highway Construction Cost Index (NHCCI) data, highway construction costs dipped in the fourth quarter of calendar year (CY) 2022 after almost two years of meteoric growth.

The NHCCI dropped 1.1 percent from the all-time high in the CY third quarter of 2022. Yet costs remain 48.5 percent higher than in the CY fourth quarter of 2020.

The Wisconsin Construction Cost Index continues to rise in 2023 but a much slower rate than last calendar year's 20%.

New TDA Podcasts: 2023-25 State Budget and Wisconsin Aviation

In the most recent On The Go podcast, the focus is on Wisconsin's aviation industry. Debby Jackson speaks with Rachel Engeler, assistant airport director at Green Bay International Airport and president of WAMA, and Jim Schell, director at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh and vice president of WAMA. The conversation covers the importance of Wisconsin airports to the state's economy, the role of the Wisconsin Airport Management Association (WAMA), and the upcoming Wisconsin Aviation Conference.

And be sure to listen to the previous podcast in which Jackson talks with Steve Baas, executive director of the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association, about what’s in the 2023-25 transportation budget and what’s next.

Listen to both podcasts here.

• TDA Annual Meeting: Wednesday, Nov. 15

Upcoming Events

• Sept. 20-22: Wisconsin Airport Management Association's Wisconsin Aviation Conference, Appleton
• Oct. 6: Southeast Wisconsin Transportation Symposium, Milwaukee
• Oct. 19: Wisconsin Railroad Association Freight Rail Day, Madison
• Nov. 7: WisDOT Freight Railroad Conference (details forthcoming)

Training for Public Works Officials

The University of Wisconsin – Madison’s Transportation Information Center, in cooperation with the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Public Works Association (APWA), offers two public works certificates designed to help develop leaders in public works:

• Public Works Supervisory Academy
• Public Works Management Institute Certificate

The coursework is designed to help public works officials:

• Develop knowledge and skills in managing operations and personnel issues
• Learn ways to communicate public works priorities to local officials and the public
• Gain problem-solving tools that can immediately be applied on the job
• Build valuable relationships with others in public works

Upcoming courses begin in September and continue through the fall. More information is detailed here with online registration here.

If you would like TDA to consider including your organization's update or event in an upcoming newsletter, please forward information to Luke Pearson – luke.pearson@tdawisconsin.org.