This morning the Senate Appropriations Committee added an amendment to SB 608 that would put an extra $100 million into this year’s budget to help road agencies across this state cover excess snow removal costs that have accumulated this winter.

The $100 million will be divvied up through the state’s normal road funding formula with $39.1 million to the state transportation budget, $39.1 million to counties and $21.8 million to municipalities. We are also hopeful that most of the $39.1-million state share will flow back to counties and municipalities that contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation for winter maintenance on state trunk-line routes within their boundaries.

This bill has not yet been voted out of committee and will receive another hearing this Thursday, February 20th at 9 a.m. The League is committed to finding ways to support local governments hit hard by this years winter weather and we will continue to offer our efforts to support that any additional funds that may be appropriated to our communities. Additional details can be found in this Detroit Free Press article.

John LaMacchia is a Legislative Associate with the League handling Transportation and infrastructure issues. He can be reached at jlamacchia@mml.org or 517-908-0303.