Category Archives: Transportation, Transit

Comprehensive Transportation Solution Relies on Passage of Ballot Proposal

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After a marathon final day of lame duck the House and the Senate were able to successfully put together the framework for a comprehensive long-term solution for investing in Michigan’s infrastructure. Although we would have liked the legislature to solve this problem independently, they approved a ballot proposal that will be put before the voters in May of 2015. This ballot proposal along with other statutory changes represents real investment in core areas that are critical to Michigan’s long term success. Below are the highlights of the transportation funding package.

Ballot Proposal:
– Raises sales and use tax from 6% to 7%
– Eliminates the sales tax on motor fuel
– Removes Higher Education from the School Aid Fund
– Amends the use tax distribution

Statutory Changes (Effective only if the ballot proposal passes):
– Switch to a percentage based wholesale tax on motor fuel and increase
– Increase the percentage based wholesale tax
– Changes to registration fees for vehicles and heavy trucks
– Transportation related reforms for warranties and competitive bidding on road projects
– Restore the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
– Sales tax on internet sales (Main Street Fairness)

Net Impact of Changes in FY 2017-18
– $1.2 Billion in new revenue for roads
– $107 Million in new revenue for the Comprehensive Transportation fund for transit and rail
– $118 Million in new revenue for constitutional revenue sharing
– $394 Million in new revenue for the School Aid Fund
– $260 million in tax relief

A more detailed analysis will follow as additional information becomes available.

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.

Legislation Allowing Golf Carts on Local Roads Sent to the Governor

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HB 5045 which allows golf carts on local roads sent to the Governor. This bill would allow a local unit of government to pass an ordinance that would allow golf carts on roads under their jurisdiction. The following requirements must be met.

    • Must have a population less than 30,000
    • The operator must be at least 16 years of age and have a valid driver’s license
    • The golf cart must be operated on the far right side of the roadway
    • You can only operate the golf cart between a half hour after sunrise and a half hour before sunset
    • Drivers must use hand signals to indicate turning and stopping

The golf cart cannot exceed 15 mph and cannot operate on a road with a speed limit of more than 30 mph

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

Transportation Funding Bills Sent to Conference

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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

Speaker Bolger Road Funding Plan Voted Out of the House

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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.

Reach Out! Encourage House Members to Vote Yes on the Senate Passed Transportation Funding Package

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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.

Changes to MDOT Annual Certification of Employee-Related Conditions Signed by the Governor

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Senate Bill 882 has been signed by the Governor and is now Public Act 301 of 2014. This has been a long process and the Michigan Municipal League would like to thank all of those have helped with the passage of this bill. They include Senator Casperson and his staff, Representative Schmidt, Representative Kosowski, policy staff, MDOT, Munetrix, and most importantly our members for all of the outreach they did on this issue.

The final version of this bill eliminates the requirement for cities and villages to post their current fiscal budget, list the number of transportation employees, and create an additional dashboard. It pushes the implementation date back to September 30, 2015 and maintains the requirement to certify with the department that you are in compliance with PA 152. It also requires that communities inform MDOT if they have opted out of PA 152. If you fail to send in your certification form to the department they may withhold your Act 51 funding.

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

Changes to MDOT Annual Certification of Employee-Related Conditions Sent to the Governor

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Senate Bill 882 was sent to the Governor for signature after the Senate unanimously concurred in the House changes. The Michigan Municipal League supported these changes and is very thankful for the work put into this legislation by Senator Casperson and his staff.

The final version of this bill eliminates the requirement for cities and villages to post their current fiscal budget, list the number of transportation employees, and create an additional dashboard. It pushes the implementation date back to September 30, 2015 and maintains the requirement to certify with the department that you are in compliance with PA 152. It also requires that communities inform MDOT if they have opted out of PA 152. If you fail to send in your certification form to the department they may withhold your Act 51 funding.

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 Passes Changes to MDOT Annual Certification of Employee-Related Conditions

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The House passed SB 882 yesterday by a vote of 107-2. A floor amendment was adopted creating an additional change to the bill. The amendment states that when cities and villages certify to MDOT their compliance with PA 152 they will also have to inform MDOT if they opted out. Concurrence in the House changes should happen in the Senate this morning, followed by the Governor’s signature before the end of the day.

The final version of this bill eliminates the requirement for cities and villages to post their current fiscal budget, list the number of transportation employees, and create an additional dashboard. It pushes the implementation date back to September 30, 2015 and maintains the requirement to certify with the department that you are in compliance with PA 152 along with the additional information of whether or not you opted out. If you fail to send in your certification form to the department by September 30, 2015 they may withhold your Act 51 funding.

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

Update: MDOT Annual Certification of Employee-Related Conditions

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The Michigan Municipal League would like to offer a quick update on SB 882. Last week a blog was posted that explained the compromised the League had reached with the House and the anticipated vote today on the bill. As a result of a few key House Republicans being unable to attend session today, the House has decided not to take up any bills for a vote. This move was completely unexpected and out of our control. After following up with staff, they have indicated that a vote will take place on the bill tomorrow. As a result of this delay it appears that the Governor will not be presented with the opportunity to sign this legislation before Thursday.

The more difficult issue with this is that there will be a two day period where if you have not certified to the department that you are in compliance with current statute you may be at risk of losing Act 51 funding. In my discussions with the department I don’t believe that they will begin immediately enforcing this statute with a heavy hammer and are willing to work with us to bring all of our members into compliance. That being said the current statute does require that you comply no later than today, September 30.

Although today’s delay was not anticipated we remain confident this issue will be resolved before the end of the 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

Repeal of MDOT Annual Certification of Employee-Related Conditions Awaits Final Passage in the House

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Senate Bill 882 that repeals the MDOT Annual Certification of Employee-Related Conditions under Act 51 Section 18j is currently awaiting final passage in the House. This bill was voted out of the Senate just before the Legislature left for their summer break by a vote of 35-1. Upon their return in September we knew we would be working on a short timeline to get this bill out of the House. The first committee hearing on the bill was last week and our testimony was well received by the committee. Following committee there were a few questions that were brought up by policy staff in the House that we addressed and after some debate the bill was brought up for a vote in committee. It passed by a margin of 13-2.

There continued to be some questions raised by a few legislators about the need to repeal requirements placed on local government. As a result further movement on the bill was suspended and discussions and negotiations resumed. Yesterday the League supported compromise with the House that would remove the requirements for additional dashboards and financial reporting but would still require us to certify to MDOT on an annual basis that we are in compliance with PA 152. The legislation would also push the implementation date back a year to September 30, 2015. Please click on the following link for the most recent version of the bill. 2014-SCVBH-0882-14645

After reaching the compromise, the House moved the bill from 2nd reading to 3rd reading but did not vote on it. They will not return to session again until next Tuesday September 30th, the current implementation date in statute. In our discussions with the House they have indicated that when they return next Tuesday they will vote on the bill with the changes mention above and send it back to the Senate for concurrence. The plan is for the Senate to concur in the changes to the bill later that day, send it to the governor for signature, and just narrowly beat the deadline.

The bill does not represent the full repeal that we pushed for but we believe it is a very good compromise at the end of the day.

As you know nothing is guaranteed until the Governor’s signature is dry, but at this point, based on the conversations we have had with legislators and staff, we are confident that SB 882 will be passed on Tuesday.

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