Construction continues on June 18, 2013, at the intersection of Bogue Street and East Shaw Lane. Weston Brooks/The State News
Despite crumbling roads and grumbling advocates, lawmakers aren’t going to reach a deal on road funding before they set out for legislative summer break on June 20.
Gov. Rick Snyder recently approved an additional $230 million one-time transportation fund for next year. Yet there’s a hazy cloud of speculation over Lansing when it comes to the question of long-term funding.
Snyder called for an additional $1.2 billion annual expenditure for the state transportation fund. Some lawmakers support that, others call for a little more, some a little less.
The problem is raising the revenue to pay for it.
“There’s at least a dozen creative ways to figure out how to do this,” said John Niemela, director of the County Road Association of Michigan.
And Niemela said they all center around the same politically delicate question: how can the state fix its pothole ridden roads without putting too great of a burden on the ones using them? In other words, to fee or not to fee; that is the question.
Reshuffling already-existing revenue won’t work without significant cuts to other state departments, Niemela said.
Speaker of the House Jase Bolger, a key GOP leader, supports Snyder’s $1.2 billion proposal, according to his press secretary Ari Adler. But Bolger has yet to take a stance on how that revenue would be raised, Adler said.
Perhaps even more reticent is House Minority Leader Tim Greimel, who hasn’t gone so far as to even release a dollar figure he supports.
“Certainly there are diverse opinions amongst the group about how best to increase funding to repair Michigan’s roads,” Greimel said. “And I’m hopeful we can reach some appropriate compromise.”
But when asked about specific ways revenue would be raised and how much of a funding increase he would support, Greimel responded, “That’s very much in flux right now, and I don’t have a firm position on that question.”
But that hasn’t stopped speculation from flowing through the cracks.
One possible way to pay for a road-funding boost — the method Snyder calls for — is a vehicle registration fee hike and an increase in the 19 cent-per-gallon gasoline tax.
According to Snyder’s office, the proposal would cost the typical motorist an average additional $120 per vehicle a year, generating an extra $728 million in 2014 to be spent on road repair. The new per-gallon rate would be adjusted again in 2016.
But Jeff Cranson, communications director for the Michigan Department of Transportation, said Snyder is open to other plans the Legislature might propose.
Lawmakers aren’t expected to vote on a final plan until after they return from a summer break in August.
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