Groups advocating for more road funding in Michigan say they’re confident some deal can be reached soon in Lansing.
As The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Jake Neher tells us, that’s despite some not-so-optimistic comments from Governor Rick Snyder this week.
Snyder told the Associated Press he doubts state lawmakers will boost road funding by a billion dollars a year any time soon. Several plans have failed to gain much support in the Legislature. All of them would include some kind of tax increase.
John Niemela is the director of the County Road Association of Michigan. He says lawmakers realize they can’t avoid the issue much longer.
“They know that there is a billion dollar shortfall,” he says. “It’s just trying to find the best way to fund it.”
Niemela and Governor Snyder both hope lawmakers will at least consider switching the state’s per-gallon fuel tax to a tax on the wholesale price of fuel. They say that will at least keep tax revenues stable.