Road Funding Debate Continues

A new plan to fund repairs and maintenance of Michigan’s roads is being discussed in Lansing. House speaker Jase Bolger is proposing an idea that would make certain that all fuel tax revenue would be used only for the state’s roads. He wants to slowly repeal the six-percent tax on gasoline and replace it with a tax on the wholesale price of gas. The tax would increase by one-cent annually for the next six years. Bolger says that will give the state the estimated one billion dollars annually to fix the roads.
Governor Snyder has thrown his support behind a plan approved by the state Senate earlier this month that would replace the 19-cent gas tax and 15-cent-per-gallon diesel tax with a wholesale tax. That tax would start at 9.5 percent April 15, increasing over four years to 15.5 percent by January 1, 2018. Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville’s plan would at least double gas taxes within four years.