Legislators spent the majority of the week once again trying to find a way to invest more money in Michigan’s roads. Talks began with the most serious negotiations of the summer and at one point there was some belief that a deal was close. At the end of the day though a final compromise was unable to be reached and the Governor and legislative leaders are back to the drawing board.

The potential deal was a plan based around increasing road funding by $1.2 billion, with $600 million coming from new revenue and $600 coming from existing revenue. The new revenue would come from a combination of gas taxes and registration fee increases. The $600 million in cuts to existing revenue remained undefined and was one of the major sticking points with many legislators.

Talks have already begun on finding a way to solve this problem but further action will not take place until after Labor Day at the earliest. The League has continued to voice our concerns over the use of a significant amount of unidentified existing revenue, the need to invest in transit, and that any solution should not put an unnecessary amount of new reporting requirements on our members

The League will be working hard to ensure our voice is heard as we move closer to a deal. We will continue to update you on any new details and how you can engage members of the Legislature in the coming weeks.

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