Wisconsin airports receive funding for upgrades from infrastructure law
The grants are financed under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2021.

In the past year, 84 airports in Wisconsin have received grants from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Infrastructure Grant funding for infrastructure and safety improvements.
“Americans are flying in record numbers, and the Biden-Harris Administration continues to invest in our airports to make travel safer and more convenient for the people who pass through these airports each day,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a July 1 statement announcing the latest round of national funding for airports across the United States.
The program is funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2021. Since the passage of the law, Wisconsin has received over $117 million in federal funding for its airports.
For the 2024 fiscal year, the three largest airports that will receive assistance are Milwaukee Mitchell International, Dane County Regional in Madison, and Appleton International in Appleton. Smaller airports, including Hartford Municipal, New Holstein Municipal, and Wittman Regional in Oshkosh, have also received funding through the program.
The infrastructure law includes $25 billion in funding for airport infrastructure. The Department of Transportation said that the grants would fund improvements to air traffic control systems, expansion of terminals, and upgrades to baggage systems.
According to a 2023 presentation by the Wisconsin Economic Development Association, the state’s eight airports with scheduled passenger service have a significant impact on the economy. Those eight hubs employ 77,000 workers at airports and affiliated businesses and contribute $9.2 billion to the state’s economic output.
In an April 2024 statement, Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin said federal funding helps Wisconsin airports boost tourism, spurring job growth and economic expansion.
“This funding will allow airports in our rural communities to make much-needed infrastructure improvements, improving safety, increasing efficiency, and ensuring our airports can welcome new passengers for years to come,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin voted for the infrastructure bill, along with Wisconsin’s three Democratic representatives.
Her Republican counterpart, Sen. Ron Johnson, opposed the legislation.
“This is just the first step in the Democrats’ plan to pass their $5 trillion-plus radical tax-and-spend agenda, and I simply couldn’t help facilitate it,” Johnson said in an August 2021 statement.
Wisconsin’s five Republican representatives in the House also voted against the infrastructure bill.
According to data released by the White House, $6.6 billion in funding from the law has been announced for more than 510 projects in Wisconsin. In addition to airport improvements, the law has financed repairs to roads and bridges, improvements to water infrastructure, assistance to local governments in purchasing clean energy buses and other public transportation vehicles, pollution cleanup, and the deployment of an electric vehicle charging network.