About a quarter, or $19 million, of the $75 million is earmarked for cities and villages. Another $29 million is allocated to town projects and the remaining $27 million to counties. Those are the same proportions as the Legislature intended, Thompson said.

“I know some really want to spin the narrative that this money is only going to Madison and Milwaukee,” Thompson told reporters Thursday. “The money is going out across the entire state.”

Thompson’s nomination to serve as DOT secretary has not been approved by the Senate. His nomination is one of the most precarious because Republicans have criticized his previous job leading an advocacy organization that represents road builders, saying it conflicts with his new job in doling out transportation contracts.

A committee will award project funding based on criteria that has yet to be developed, Thompson said. The criteria, which he promised to release, will weigh each project’s economic development by looking at how employment, major employers, freight and connectivity to jobs would be affected.

Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, was one of 10 GOP senators who sent a letter to Thompson Wednesday spelling out that the money should be spent strictly on local roads.