Streetcar foes need to stop saying $$ can be re-purposed

Just as the Federal Amtrak funding Walker turned back could not be used in Wisconsin to pay for roads, the streetcar grant now earmarked for Milwaukee streetcars cannot be repurposed to other transportation projects.

For the umpteenth time:

[US Rep. Gwen] Moore said that federal officials declared that grant funds "could be used only for Milwaukee's streetcar project," meaning it "isn’t possible" to redirect the money to "other modes of public transportation or to our public schools."

Current law, and grant contracts, tie the grant money specifically to the streetcar project.

In theory, Congress could intervene and re-purpose the funding, but there’s far from any guarantee that would happen -- or that Milwaukee would be re-awarded the money if it did. In any case, we can only base our rating on where things stand today, not where they might stand under different scenarios.

We rate Moore’s claim True.