The People Have Spoken. Legislature Takes Important First Step.

Finding Forward worked with county boards across the state this past fall to give voters a say on a very specific public policy issue - protecting the state's transportation fund. Fifty-four Wisconsin counties placed an advisory referendum on the ballot asking: "Should the Wisconsin Constitution be amended to prohibit any further transfers or lapses from the segregated transportation fund?"

Wisconsinites could not have been any clearer. The answer is "YES". In fact, the referendum passed in all 54 counties by an average margin in excess of 70 percent.

With a bipartisan vote, the Wisconsin Legislature has taken an important step by passing first consideration of a proposed constitutional amendment. The measure must pass again in the next legislative session before it is put before the public in a state-wide referendum.

The Finding Forward coalition was formed when local governments, private businesses, organized labor, transportation associations, regional planning interests, housing organizations and many other groups decided that action needed to be taken to protect Wisconsin's transportation fund and restore fiscal sanity to the state budget process.

This coalition is not interested in revisiting past battles or assessing blame for how Wisconsin fell into the pattern of structural deficits and onetime budget fixes. Instead, the goal of the coalition is to engage the public in a positive initiative that will break this unhealthy budgeting cycle. In other words, every group in the coalition simply wants Wisconsin to "find forward."

Finding Forward believes amending the Wisconsin constitution to safeguard transportation user fees is part of a return to fiscal responsibility. Instead of using transportation revenue to plug general fund deficits, this money should be used to make the necessary investments to ensure future prosperity.

Achieving a constitutional change is a long, complicated process, and Finding Forward is committed to being a strong and positive advocate every step of the way.

Think tank doesn't think much of Wisconsin's use of transportation
revenue for day-to-day operations.

Susan Urahn, managing director of the Pew Center on the States, explains why Wisconsin is included in the November 2009 Pew study, Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril.

"Our report states that California's budget problems are in a league of their own. But Wisconsin has had persistent budget shortfalls -- the state has had a negative general fund balance from fiscal years 2002 to 2008, according to its own Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports. Additionally, Wisconsin has used short-term fixes to meet budget challenges, such as relying on its transportation funds to cover day-to-day operating expenses.”

According to the report, California and nine other states – Wisconsin, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Florida – were particularly affected by the recession.

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