Sigma40 makes a good point, she is dumber.

Is Joe Knilans still hiding in someones basement?

That has to be impossible, Sigma.

Delete this blog, I feel dumber reading it.

It’s ironic that some of the people who are complaining about this have no clue that Mark Gottlieb was appointed by Governor Scott Walker to serve as Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) beginning in January 2011 and Mr. Gottlieb is the Chairman of this advisory panel.

I do pay for the miles I drive, it's called a gas tax. Other than that, even if you don't drive a car, your benefitting GREATLY from the roads and highways in this state so everyone pays. If you drive a car, you pay more in gas tax.

In the past two monthes I drove in Wi, Il, Ky, Tn, Al, Fl, Or, Id & Wa. Other than Illinois, Wisconsin has the highest prices.
Tax those visiting us!

Do it and I'll move outta state! LOL!!

Tax the FIBs.

Remember this:
"During outgoing Gov. Jim Doyle's eight years in office, $1.3 billion was diverted from the transportation fund to pay for schools and other programs."
That could have helped a little.

Wisconsin's gas tax is the highest in the nation.

No but motorists should have to pay more for sitting in left lane longer & not approaching speed limit.

This is the type of thing no show Joe Knilans should be weighing in on. But I guess Walker and the Fitz bros haven't given him permission to speak yet.

I drive 90/94 daily and Friday,Saturday,Sunday I can't tell you how many rude Illinois Driver's I see on Wisconsin Roads. Why not get a Toll System and make them pay like we do when we drive down to Rockford? It would make jobs, and built revenue for the State! Also maybe make Out of State Residence that Vacation here pay an extra tax say at the Wisconsin Dells or State Wide Even!!! It is something to think about.

JREwing78, How does raising the gas tax by 10 cents a gallon create more jobs?

Wisconsin gas tax is 51.3 a gallon.

The one thing that keeps Wisconsin roads from disintegrating into dust is that the current gas tax is considerably higher than other Midwest states.

Gas taxes still work. The problem is the hysteria from the public whenever someone suggests the responsible thing to do is raise fuel taxes. Gas taxes going up 10-20 cents in a week barely gets a reaction out of anyone anymore, but raising gas taxes 10 cents makes people apoplectic. That's ridiculous.

10 extra cents per gallon to Big Oil doesn't do a thing for anyone except Big Oil. 10 extra cents per gallon in fuel taxes directly improves our economy, and creates more jobs.

Removing the gas tax index to inflation was a very stupid thing to do, since now every increase is political.

No. No more taxes, if you don't mind. The taxes that are already on fuel are still being paid by us when we buy fuel. As a matter of fact, they are among the highest in the nation. Stop spending so much.

In a way we all are paying for the miles we drive.It shows up on/in your insurance premiums.When you get a survey from your insurer that is one way they calculate your premiums.Nothing new ,just a different way of the state getting more out of the taxpayer.

No Gregg,
.
Let's try getting things done with less money..
.
Following this logic, parents should be charged for every day their children go to school, but worse... If your kid is smarter than the rest, spends time in the library and asks the teacher more questions thatn the rest of the kids.. Mom and Dad pay a surcharge.

Next they'll start expecting us to report our online purchases so we can pay the sales tax.

great idea, the state will have money to spare, if rock star walker has to pay also.

If I am correct, Obama's administration thought about it for federal law, which included GPS, or something similar to it. As for self reporting, it is way to easy to lie about the mileage.

Converting the interstate to toll roads won't work with out Federal OK. The Interstate system was bought and paid for with mostly (if not all) Federal tax money. Federal rules state how wide it must be what the signage looks like etc... Illinois ( Indiana and Oklahoma) had to form toll highway commissions, that sold investment bonds and then built and maintained the Toll Roads. Toll roads in New York and Pennsylvania were in use before the interstate system was ever constructed, that is also why a couple of governments sold their toll roads into private hands ( like the Chicago Skyway)

When will I start paying a tax on the air I breath based on my body weight?

More BIG government. Just what we need.

Heavy vehicles are the only ones that actually put direct 'wear and tear' on the roads. This is why we have weight limits on transport vehicles (which greedy businesses routinely violate - why do you think we have to waste money on 'weigh stations'?). Increase the gas tax (the one that most directly impacts heavy vehicles and high mileage users)... especially the diesel tax - problem solved.

Everyone will pay one way or the other.

Thank God we live close enough to the state line where I could still work at my current job and move to Illinois to get out of paying mileage tax. And I would do that. I think a toll road system would be more fair to everyone who uses our highways.

hybrids and plug ins should be charged up front, in the purchase price, for a road useage tax. Everyone that drives should pay their fair share including the smart cars. What is more fair than including it in the gas tank. I do not know how one can cheat that method. Rolling back the odometer is useless when you pay by the gallon.

If you buy gasoline,
you already pay a tax based upon the miles you drive
because the more miles you drive,
the more gasoline you must buy.
This is reinventing the wheel.

This wil never fly... no reason to even discuss it. There are so many ways to cheat it thats it would be awesome if they actually did it...lol. But the costs of the GPS, a tracking system, people to manage it and monitor it, and then people to enforce it.. Not a chance.

I stand by my prediction, Rex. We'll see what the future holds.

By the way, that commission was created as an add-on to the budget. That means that the legislature created it. However, the Governor didn't veto it either.

I also generally like the 'you use, you pay' concept. Of the two, and with the modern technology, I'd go with toll roads. The mileage counting would still let all out of state 'users' travel our roads for free.

Easy, if they put a GPS in my vehicle, take it out and install it on my lawn tractor. Besides I'd go to jail before I ever put one on any of my vehicles. Its bad enough you can listen to other people through their cell phones.

Though I work in the city I choose to enjoy living in the country. Why should I have to pay more just so I can work. Janesville you can have it. I used to live there. Glad I dont now.

"I'll bet this new tax never gets past our current Governor"
>
Um, your current Governor is the one who commissioned the committee in the first place, you know, the guy who, among other empty campaign promises, rallied against nickel and dimeing the taxpayers with fees and such, yeah, that guy.

With the advent of hybrid and plug-in electrics, the state needs to find a way to make up for the potential lost "revenue" that higher efficiency vehicles could create.

As someone who commutes to Madison and Milwaukee on a regular basis, this would be piling on in addition to the taxes I am paying for gas.

Moreover, I would love to see how they administer this sort of thing. Unless they just whack you with a tax when you attempt to transfer a title based on the mileage difference when you registered the vehicle and when you disposed of it?

Maybe we need to start docking our legislators pay for every ridiculous law they pass without repealing others.

Im just sayin

Having Wisconsin residents report their mileage would discriminate against them unless they also required all non-residents who use Wisconsin roads report that mileage and pay for it also.

There is already a pay-to-use mechanism in place - state gas taxes. If those aren't collecting enough revenue, increase them. They could adjust vehicle registration fees based the amount of wear and tear the vehicle type causes on roads. Also, require big commercial trucks to have an expensive state sticker if they haul heavy loads over Wisconsin highways.

It seems to me that the gas tax already charges us according to how many miles we drive. And since the government seems determined to get us all to drive more fuel efficient cars, the gas tax encourages that too. But, the law of unintended consequences has reared its ugly head. While the President dictates that cars will increase fuel efficiency significantly in the near future, it seems he and his brain trust forgot just how much they and the states count on gas tax revenues. Oops! Well, the President isn't the first one to notice that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Or has he noticed?

I'll bet this new tax never gets past our current Governor, even if the legislature found the courage to give the idea more than the half-hearted consideration I'd expect it to give. The reason such committees are formed is to float trial balloons such as this new tax to see how badly folks react to it. That way, elected officials don't have to stick out their necks to see if the public will want to chop it off for them over it.

My husband and I each drive 45 minutes to work since there is none around here.Why punish us for just trying to keep food on the table? Let the tourist help out with the wear & tear.

People are worried about Big Brother, yet they carry a GPS when they have their cell phone. At McD's during lunch today there was a woman who ate with one hand while she was texting with the other the whole time.
No, I don't want GPS monitoring my car. Guess what I read today, too?
"Starting Next Year, Brazil Wants To Track All Cars Electronically"
/.
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/10/03/2...

Talk about stupid...
What next, charge pedestrians for walking on PUBLIC sidewalks based on miles or feet walked??
These idiots need to stop taking "Stupid" pills, as they are working way too well for them....

I am totally against the mileage tax. TOTALLY! But I do think that there should be toll roads just like Illinois to pay for all the so called needs our state has. If we want to go somewhere and have to drive in Illinois we have to pay the tolls if we want to get there quick so why should they not pay the tolls in Wisconsin to get up North quick? Then at least we all would have a choice as to whether we want to pay or not pay. I am in total favor of a toll road system in Wisconsin. Mainly because it gives me the choice. Not some politician sitting in his office forcing me to pay or do something that I don't want to pay or do. Kind of resembles Communism doesn't it? Is that why in other parts of the country Wisconsin is know as Wis-communism? Yes I have heard it.

ps- just incase you dont know. Talk to your ins agent to be sure you are paying the correct amount for mileage that you drive. IF you only put 7k miles on your car per year it will cost you less. If you drive a lot and you don't tell them you drive a lot for work you could have an issue with payment on claim. I saved about $60 a year approx when I went from 12k a year(commuting) to 6k a year.

So penalize the people who actually get jobs and now have to travel a long way to keep or get a job.

Is there really anything we do not get taxed on already? From the water I drink when I get up ...to the toilet I flush at night, and everything in between all day. Anything?

I am already paying taxes by the mile everytime I drive! Gas tax, City, State, Local taxes, Plates. And if I purchase anything when I drive somewhere, I pay taxes on the items I purchase..Has ANY of our "so called leaders" ever heard of STOP SPENDING what YOU don't have?

I have always favored the "user pays" concept be it toll roads or something else, like this maybe. You use, you pay. You do not use, you do not pay. Why do people who do not drive pay for my roads? Why do I pay for bike roads? This concept should work for a lot of things.

I already pay gasoline taxes for every mile I drive. Plus $85 to register my plates every year. Now another fee/tax? My, my, what will those folks up in the big house think of next? And here I thought they were part of that popular Taxed Enough Already party. Aren't they smart enough to figure out a work-around without taxing us more? Maybe just move a few dollars around from Medicaid, SeniorCare, UW, WPR, the governor's benefit package or ???

I currently drive 450 miles a week to & from work. Hmmm. Think I'll move - out of WI.

Make the interstates as toll roads, with free passes for residents. Otherwise, I'll figure out how to roll back the odometer.

Interesting phrase..."funding needs"

lets put in toll roads then everybody is paying to use the roads not just the fine people of wi.

Greg i have never understood this way of thinking,these people spending,counting chickens before they hatch !
When working a 40 hour week,i know what i'm making,in return i know how much i have to work with,if i only work 30 hours in a week,and expected 40 hour pay to live on,who do i try to get the 10 hour's of pay from that i won't have??
I was taught never to spend money you don't have,unless it's in your hand,and never count on nothing until then,am i the only one nuts for living this way?
In reality,these people living off our money,enough,is NEVER ENOUGH for them!!