Road Kill Walker leaves Deer on Wisconsin's Roadsides for underfunded Department of Transportation

Road Kill Walker is back, and the voters are starting to notice, big time. Plus, get a load of this Scott Walker shuffle.

Let's start with the first-ever "First Alert Traffic Note" for road kill deer. Drivers now have to watch out for the excessive number of road kill deer dotting the shoulder of our beautiful Wisconsin highways.

And get this, the DNR shifted the responsibility of road kill collection to the DOT, because the DNR now has budget constraints. But wait, doesn't the DOT also have a major budget shortfall and road maintenance delays? Walker's got nowhere to go with the problem, so he figures what doesn't get picked up...eh.

You just can't make this stuff up. From WKOW TV.

 

Rotting Road Kill litter highways, Dept. of Transportation claims program to remove Deer carcasses is "working?"

Despite longtime rotting deer carcasses littering out state roads, the program to pick them up is "working," according to the Transportation Department.

Some vehicle-struck deer aren't getting removed from Wisconsin highways as quickly as they're being run down, as officials adjust to a new carcass pickup system. Transportation spokeswoman Becky Kikkert says contracted vendors are supposed to remove deer carcasses within two business days of a report. She says the system is working.

No Funding?: The WISC story claims there was a little confusion about what department, DNR or DOT, was responsible for removing dead deer within two days.  

A provision in the state budget transferred responsibility for picking up dead deer from the Department of Natural Resources to the Department of Transportation. The change took effect in September. Some officials said they weren't informed of the switch of responsibility for carcass removal from the DNR to the DOT.

And yet, in my recent post, "Walker now leaving rotting Car-Killed Deer on road sides, and it may get worse," Scott Walker vetoed the actual funding of road kill removal because as he put it, it would take funding away from "other priorities," It's also because he was pissed the legislature for not putting in additional dollars...from god knows where, to do the job...so believe it or not, that's where Walker and the Republican legislature have left it....

This has been Walker's dream for years, a haphazard irresponsible nothing burger, as I reported back in April 2015:

Governor Scott Walker doesn't want the state to pay to remove deer carcasses along state highways, which means counties could have to foot the bill. Last year the DNR removed nearly 24,000 deer carcasses from state highways across Wisconsin.

The Governor's proposed budget eliminates$700,000 a year for the DNR to remove the carcasses statewide. Under the proposal, responsibility for clearing the deer would fall to whatever government agency is in charge of the roadway. Or they may be left uncollected. The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau cautions, "dead and decaying deer on the roadside are unsightly and can dampen Wisconsin's reputation as a tourist destination."

Here's the WISC report. I loved how "driver" Kimberly Engel couldn't care less about how it looks or what it'll do to Wisconsin's reputation as a tourist destination, not to mention the spread of disease:

Engel: "We live in Wisconsin, there's always road kill somewhere."

Scott Walker, the Roadkill Candidate, may add Bucks to list.

Remember this amazing Scott Walker budget item?

The Governor's proposed budget eliminates$700,000 a year for the DNR to remove the carcasses statewide.

Thankfully, maybe even oddly, Republicans thought to cut that idea out of the budget.

But the Milwaukee Buck's arena might just be as dead as those bloating carcasses on the roadside, and good riddance. Journal Sentinel:

It's unclear if Republicans could get the needed votes from Democrats in the Senate.

Here's what every Democrats should be saying, even if it means saying sayonara to the Bucks, who's owner by the way has already threatened to move. Sen. Bob Wirch got it exactly right, changing my own position on this:

Asked if he could support the Bucks plan, Sen. Bob Wirch (D-Kenosha) said, "Hell, no."

He said the notion is unpopular in his district because Walker rejected a Hard Rock casino proposed by the Menominee tribe in Kenosha. The Menominee had offered to bankroll building the Bucks arena in one of its proposals.

The proposed casino was fiercely fought by the Potawatomi, whose Milwaukee casino is the most lucrative in the state.

"Tell the Potawatomi to pay for (the arena) — they killed the (casino) deal," Wirch said.

Just call him Road Kill Walker!!!

Imagine driving down the highway anywhere in Wisconsin and seeing rotting deer carcasses bloating in the searing summer heat. Bones bleached by the sun on the side of the road. 

This is not a dystopian scene snatched out of a novel, it’s Scott Walker’s latest budgetary horror inflicted on our state. 

Think those guys from “Airplane” can make a tourism ad around Walker's nauseating vision? Who knows, maybe a 21st century version of the Black Death can start right here in the Badger state.

WKOW broke this story, and they were promoting it all night before the 10 o'clock report:

Wow, spending cuts are one thing, but abandoning the care and upkeep of our state is a whole different animal...one I think you'll find twisted like a pretzel or flattened like a pancake in the middle of the road.

Really, Walker thought this was a good idea, one he could ride right into the White House:

The Official State Smell?

Governor Scott Walker doesn't want the state to pay to remove deer carcasses along state highways, which means counties could have to foot the bill. Last year the DNR removed nearly 24,000 deer carcasses from state highways across Wisconsin.

The Governor's proposed budget eliminates$700,000 a year for the DNR to remove the carcasses statewide. Under the proposal, responsibility for clearing the deer would fall to whatever government agency is in charge of the roadway. Or they may be left uncollected. The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau cautions, "dead and decaying deer on the roadside are unsightly ad can dampen Wisconsin's reputation as a tourist destination."