CHICAGO - Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder wants lawmakers to overhaul the state's transportation funding formula to generate $1.2 billion in new money for roads, saying Michigan's future depends on it.
"Our economic turnaround is a model for the nation," Snyder said in a statement Monday after holding a media roundtable with local politicians and business leaders urging state lawmakers to pass the transportation legislation. "But to achieve our full potential, new need a modern infrastructure that keeps families safe and invites investment from job creators."
Snyder launched a campaign dubbed "Just Fix The Roads" to urge lawmakers to sign legislation within the next three weeks that would revamp the state's gas tax formula to raise new money. Snyder has made road funding a top priority for years, maintaining that Michigan needs at least $1.4 billion in new money annually to just maintain existing road and bridge conditions.
Snyder and other supporters believe the package has a chance of passing during the brief lame-duck session in part because the state's term limits mean many lawmakers will not be up for re-election.
The Senate passed the legislation in November. The package would shift the state's gas-tax funding formula to a wholesale percentage tax from the current 19-cent-a-gallon tax. The wholesale tax would translate into roughly a 33-cent-per-gallon tax level next year, reaching more than 40 cents by 2018.
The new tax would begin at 9% next spring and grow to 15.5% by Jan. 1, 2018.
The new tax could raise between $781 million and $1.5 billion a year when fully implemented, according to a Senate Fiscal Agency analysis.
The plan would mean counties, cities and villages would see a 73% increase in infrastructure funding by 2018, according to the governor's office.
The bills are in the hands of the House. House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, is reportedly in favor of an alternative proposal that would gradually eliminate the sales tax collections on motor fuel - which goes to schools -- and replace it with an increase in fuel taxes.
