LANSING, MI (AP)-- A state Senate panel could vote this week on a plan to boost funding for Michigan’s crumbling roads.
The House recently passed the legislation, which would increase state infrastructure spending by about half-a-billion dollars a year. But that’s only about a third of what experts say is needed to keep the state’s infrastructure from getting worse.
Meanwhile, Republican leaders in the Senate are working on plans to raise taxes or fees to get closer to $1 billion dollars a year or more.
They say people are ready to support new revenue to make a bigger investment in the state’s infrastructure.
“It has become increasingly clear to our people over the last three or four months that we need to do something, and they’re speaking to us, and we’re elected to represent them,” said state Sen. Roger Kahn, R-Saginaw Township, who chairs the Senate Infrastructure Modernization Committee.
Kahn credits the brutal winter that ripped apart roadways across the state for building support for raising taxes or fees for road repairs.
“Virtually everybody in the state has either experienced road-related damage to their car or has a family member or friend who has had it,” he said.
“Michigan’s 50th out of 50 states in terms of per-capita spending on roads. With that kind of a shortfall, it doesn’t take much of a glitch in the weather to create a lot of potholes.”
State Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, says he’s working on a proposal to increase revenues for roads. That plan could be introduced as early as this week.