State Legislator Pushing to Use Powerball Winnings for Road Funding
Thursday, April 25th, 2019 -- 8:47 AM
(WRN) -A state legislator is pushing to put the state's share of the Powerball winnings to road funding.The state will be getting quite the payout from the Powerball Jackpot, and one legislator says we should put that towards roads. State senator Tim Carpenter says the state is getting 36 and a half million dollars in taxes, and that those funds could go a long way to helping cities and counties fix their roads.
"Fix our potholes, take care of our local roads, and take care of what I consider to be one of the top issues in Wisconsin."
Carpenter says cities and counties have projects that are ready to go, if they only had the funding.
"The state should go ahead and send it back to local units of government, because I know there's a backlog of projects that need to be done."
He says sending lottery funds to the municipalities and counties for roads would mean some relief, even if it can't fix all the problems.
"I would leave it at their discretion to go ahead and take care of their top projects, the biggest headaches out there."
Carpenter says it's a great way to bypass partisan bickering over where money for roads is going to come from because it's already here. He says he knows the funds can't fix all of the roads, but that it's a start, and it's funding that doesn't need to be argued over before it's used. The state's take on the jackpot is 36 and a half million dollars, and Carpenter says that's money that politicians can use, rather than arguing over where it came from.
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