It comes as no surprise, really, that the one thing Thrillist pegs Michigan for being the worst at is maintaining our roads.
We've written before about Michigan roads funding going absolutely nowhere, and we may very well write about it again, as lawmakers continue to go round and round the table with discussions— nay, excuses— for why minimal tax hikes to fund road repairs are a bad idea.
Things may be turning around, though (at the very least we can hope they will).
Here's a snippet from MT's Lame-Duck forecast:
Road Funding: For two years now, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has called for the Legislature to pass bills that would increase state spending on roads by $1.2 billion. That hasn’t happened. Our pols have intensely bickered over how exactly to increase funds and, because of their due diligence, we still don’t have a proposal on the table.
That could change, though! Earlier this year, Republicans threw their weight behind a proposal that would only raise $500 million, mostly because it didn’t raise any new taxes. Now, with some likely exiting state office for good, they may be more inclined to pass a set of bills that raises taxes on motorists, truck drivers, the whole shebang.
And perhaps now may be the best time: If the Legislature doesn’t act soon, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, arguably the most powerful lobby group in the state, has indicated it might circumvent Lansing and head straight to voters to spark a fire on the issue.
“The Michigan Chamber of Commerce hopes lawmakers will do their job and pass a comprehensive transportation funding plan in the lame duck session,” the chamber wrote in a news release last month. “However, after almost 10 years of legislative debate, hope is not a very good strategy. We need less talk and more action.”
The chamber says it’s not looking to bypass the Legislature entirely; if nothing happens by year's end, it says it would pursue a petition drive that would ask voters to tax themselves to fix our roads, which would then head to Lansing for approval.
Just last week, members of the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments presented a resolution to the Legislature that would increase gas taxes to "generate rough revenue to reverse the deterioration of our roads.”
If the committee can finagle the right votes from members of the Senate and the House, the proposed solution would be advanced to the floors for consideration as early as next week.
