There is a ray of good news as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer prepares to renew her push for major new spending to fix Michigan’s roads and bridges: Republican legislative leaders say addressing the funding is a priority for them, too. Even though both the Republican Legislature and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer agree that the roads need to be fix, beyond that, uncertainty abounds over whether the Democratic governor and a tax-averse Legislature can agree on a plan.
Whitmer is expected to make roads a focus in her Jan. 29 State of the State speech after GOP lawmakers last year rejected a proposed 45-cents-a-gallon fuel tax hike phased in over a year. GOP leaders last year never publicly released an alternative to Whitmer’s proposal.
Whitmer this past week signaled that it may take pursuing a number of revenue-raising options given the magnitude of the problem, and could potentially scale back her original $2.5 billion ask.
The Michigan Department of Transportation has said it needs at least $1 billion more just to keep I, U.S. and M routes from declining much further.
Speculation is that Whitmer will sell bonds to pump new dollars into the $5 billion system but its unclear if Republicans will get behind any tax increase, particularly before the November election. Whitmer will present her budget February 6th.