WI Legislature's Rail Caucus Members Get On Board with WisARP and AAW

By Susan Foote- Martin, Wisconsin Association of Rail Passengers Vice President /Communications

On Friday, September 12, eight members of the Wisconsin Legislature joined volunteers from the Wisconsin Association of Rail Passengers and All Aboard Wisconsin to board Amtrak’s Borealis in Columbus and embark on a trip to Tomah, where legislators announced the formation of a Passenger Rail Caucus.  The Caucus intends to garner financial support for passenger rail in Wisconsin by writing a stand-alone bill that would receive money from the state budget surplus.

Representative Lori Palmeri (D-Oshkosh) chairs the caucus, which began work to address the funding needs of Wisconsin’s passenger rail projects about a year ago.  The caucus is non-partisan. However, at this time, all members are Democrats.

Members of the Caucus include Rep. Lori Palmeri (Assembly District 54, Oshkosh), Sen. Melissa Ratcliff (Senate District 16, Cottage Grove), Sen Mark Spreitzer (Senate District 15, Beloit), Rep Angelito Tenorio (Assembly District 14, West Allis), Rep Christine Sinicki (Assembly District 20, Milwaukee), Rep. Maureen McCarville (Assembly District 42, De Forest), Rep. Brienne Brown (Assembly District 43, Whitewater), Rep Vincent Miresse (Assembly District 71, Stevens Point), Rep. Shelia Stubbs (Assembly District 78, Madison) and Rep. Amaad Rivera-Wagner (Assembly District 90, Green Bay).

There are many reasons why passenger rail is gaining in popularity in the nation and Wisconsin is no exception.  Adequate funding is necessary to keep existing trains on the tracks and new projects moving forward. The Governor’s budget request was for $15 million over the next three funding periods but the legislators provided $0 funding.

Economic, social, equity and environmental benefits of passenger rail are major drivers behind the reasons why people are looking to trains as another choice when it comes to travel.  Trains are an affordable mode of transportation, safer than driving and more convenient than flying.

Now is a good time to let your legislator know that funding passenger rail in Wisconsin is very important to you.    

Look for updates on the WisARP website as the Passenger Rail Caucus moves ahead to write the bill and present it to the Joint Finance Committee of the Legislature.