In the second to last week of lame duck session, tensions were high as transportation talks continued. The House and Senate sent the transportation bills to conference committees where a small bi-partisan group of six legislators will ultimately vote on the conference report being negotiated by legislative leadership and the Governor. The conferees in the Senate are Sen. Arlan Meekhof (R-Holland), Sen. Mike Kowall (R-White Lake) and Sen. Jim Ananich (D-Flint). The House conferees are Rep. Jim Stamas (R-Midland), Rep. Rob VerHeulen (R-Walker) and Rep. Marilyn Lane (D-Fraser). The legislative leadership and Governor have met for several hours in each of the last few days on this issue, and we anticipate some sort of resolution next week.

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

House Speaker Jase Bolger’s (R-Marshall) transportation funding plan, which would shift dollars that currently go to local governments, schools, transit, and the general fund to roads, was voted out of the House without a single democratic vote.

The plan relies on projected revenue increases, which supporters say will more than counter-balance the revenue shift. In an attempt to keep local funding at current levels, language was added to the bill that says if state spending on local governments falls below the previous year, the sales tax phase-out would be repealed. The League has very serious concerns and is continuing to express its strong opposition to this plan. Holding communities harmless and not allowing them to benefit from a growing economy by shifting money over to road funding is not the comprehensive solution for which the League is advocating.

Members voted 56-53 for HB 4539, which would phase out the sales tax on gasoline over six years. The bill would remove 1 percent of the 6 percent sales tax each year from 2016 to 2020. HB 5477 would gradually increase the state’s gasoline tax to balance out the drop in the sales tax over that same time period. Eventually, the sales tax on gas would be 0 percent and the state’s new wholesale gasoline tax would be 13.5 percent, resulting in a $1.1 billion increase in Act 51 allocation. This plan also results is a $48 million cut to the Comprehensive Transportation Fund (CTF), which funds public transit, by 2020.

Additionally, all new transportation revenue generated under the plan would go to only the State Trunk Line Fund, counties, cities and villages. The CTF would lose out on another $97 million in new revenue by not allocating the money to the full Act 51 formula. At a time when we should be investing in public transit in Michigan as a way to attract and retain talent, this plan significantly reduces the current investment in public transit.

For the fiscal analysis please click here.

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

On Tuesday (11/25) Speaker of the House, Jase Bolger, put forward a new transportation funding plan. The plan would remove the 6% sales tax now charged on fuel sales (at 1% per year), while at the same time converting the 19-cent-per-gallon fuel tax to a percentage rate that would gradually increase over the same period. The result would be an extra $1 billion a year in revenue that would be devoted to roads. The plan does not provide for a replacement for the lost sales tax revenue that goes to local government and schools ($75M for constitutional revenue sharing alone). The Speaker theorizes that sales tax revenue is projected to grow by more than $200 million annually because of economic growth in Michigan, meaning schools and local governments would not be hurt by the gradual removal of the 6% sales tax from gasoline sales.

This plan is significantly different than the package of bills passed by the Senate that would increase transportation funding by nearly $1.5 billion over the next four years and is currently awaiting a vote in the House. Please consider reaching out to your Representative and ask them to support the transportation funding plan passed by the Senate. The message to your state Representative is simple:

• Vote yes on the Senate passed transportation funding package.
• We need a real increase in funds for roads, bridges and transit and we will not support any plan that would jeopardize local revenue.
• Pass the increase approved by the Senate and we in local government will support your vote!

Please click on the following link for more information on the Senate plan and a breakdown of the increase in revenue each municipality would receive from HB 5477, which brings in the bulk of the new revenue by increasing the gas tax incrementally over 4 years. Transportation Package Information Sheet

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