Bice: Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson urges bipartisan support to raise gas tax

Daniel Bice | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

During his lengthy tenure as Wisconsin governor, Tommy Thompson made it clear that he liked to build stuff.

Buildings, bridges and roads. Especially roads.

"I like to build things — you better believe it," Thompson said during a Wednesday talk at the Milwaukee Press Club.

Now Thompson is trying to persuade the incoming governor and lawmakers to follow his legacy.

The former four-term Republican governor called on Democratic Gov.-elect Tony Evers to work with the Republican leaders of the Legislature to jointly push through a significant "revenue enhancement" to pay for improved roads.

"They should sit down and reach a compromise," Thompson said. "Let's face it — gas taxes have not been raised for a long time."

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Thompson also was highly critical of the move in 2005 to repeal gas tax indexing, which automatically increased the tax at the rate of inflation each year. He called that a "mistake."

But if Evers and the state GOP legislative leaders — Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald — reinstate indexing and boost the gas tax, Thompson said they need to do it while gas prices are low.

The former governor also said everyone needs to make sure the tax increase is large enough to meet the state's needs. He said Wisconsin is becoming a high-tech state and needs the infrastructure to support that.

Most important, though, Thompson said both Republicans and Democrats need to sign off on the deal.

"They both share the responsibility. They both share the satisfaction of building. They both share the blame," said Thompson, who noted that Evers has reached out to him.

"Who is going to criticize them at the election? The fact is, you've got new roads out here," he continued. "If you know me, I would have had roads all over."

No doubt.

But Gov. Scott Walker has been an adamant foe of raising the gas tax, even going toe-to-toe with Thompson on the issue as far back as 1995. The lack of funding forced Walker to abandon plans to rebuild I-94 between the Marquette and Zoo interchanges.

Walker announced last month that he would be delaying some of the state's largest road construction projects in southeastern Wisconsin if he were to be re-elected.

Democrats used concerns over the disintegration in the state highway system during the election to attack the incumbent. One group even renamed the potholes in Wisconsin as "Scott-holes."

Thompson on Evers win

Asked about Walker's re-election bid, Thompson suggested that it was all but inevitable that Walker would lose to Evers, given the massive Democratic turnout in Dane and Milwaukee counties.

Thompson said the situation was made worse for Republicans because college-educated women in the Milwaukee suburbs really dislike President Donald Trump.

"It was the mobilization of voters which was the story of this election," Thompson said.

"Scott Walker couldn't have won. I don't know if even I would have been able. I probably could have," said Thompson, who lost in his last statewide campaign, against U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin in 2012.

Thompson on Trump

Thompson didn't shy away from criticizing the first-term Republican president.

Asked to grade Trump's performance during his first two years in office, Thompson said he had to give the president an A on the issues because the economy is doing so well. But he gave Trump a C-minus on style and a C on diplomacy.

Altogether, Thompson said the president gets a B.

Throughout his talk, the former governor raised concerns about the rise in divisiveness in contemporary politics.

Thompson was known during his 14 years as governor for his ability to cut deals with Democrats. He noted that he is having dinner on Thursday with Tony Earl, whom Thompson defeated for governor in 1986.

He called for changes in how legislative and congressional districts are drawn to decrease partisanship. He outlined a plan to reduce the prison population with a pilot program using treatment, training and local business support. But most of all, he called for the state's top elected official to set the tone.

"We need leadership from the governor," Thompson said.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.