State lawmakers will probably double the amount of money they had planned to spend on fixing roads torn apart by nasty weather this winter.
As The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Jake Neher reports, a legislative conference committee hopes to approve a mid-year budget bill Tuesday that will include the money.
Lawmakers working on the bill say it will include about 200 million dollars to fix potholes and help local governments pay for things like salt and snow plowing. But Republican leaders are still trying to hammer out some last-minute details before they unveil the entire compromise bill.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Roger Kahn says they need to move fast.
“I don’t know how close they are to resolving them,” he says. “Hopefully they’ll be done by the morning.”
Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville says the legislation probably won’t address a shortfall in the state’s Medicaid budget. Some lawmakers worry the hole of more than 100 million dollars will put health care for low-income residents at risk.