DETROIT, Mich. – Business Leaders for Michigan, the state’s business roundtable, strongly applauded today the Senate passage of a long-term solution to fix Michigan’s roads and bridges.
Doug Rothwell, BLM President & CEO, said that today’s Senate action will help existing Michigan companies and prospective businesses see that our state is willing to take care of itself.
“Business executives rank access to and condition of highways as one of the top factors in making site location decisions,” Rothwell said. “If we want to protect the jobs we have and grow new jobs, we need to fix our roads and bridges. Today was a major step in the right direction.”
Providing a long-term solution for our roads also eliminates the need to use scarce general fund dollars.
“For the past several years, general fund dollars were used to plug the hole in road and bridge funding. We can’t sustain that,” Rothwell said. “Those dollars should be prioritized for our other urgent need—growing our workforce, which includes worker training and making college more affordable. Today’s Senate action will also make us stronger in those areas.”
Importantly, the legislation passed with strong support from both Republicans and Democrats.
“We are extremely pleased by the bipartisan support this legislation received in the Senate,” Rothwell said. “Senate Infrastructure Modernization Committee Chairman Roger Kahn, Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, Senator Arlan Meekhof and Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer deserve tremendous credit for their leadership and commitment to finding a long-term solution to fix Michigan’s roads and bridges.”
The legislation now moves to the House.
“We are hopeful that the House will act quickly to complete this critical work,” Rothwell said.
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