July 13, 2015
The Honorable Arlan Meekhof
Senate Majority Leader
Michigan State Senate
P.O. Box 30036
Lansing, MI 48909
The Honorable Kevin Cotter
Speaker of the House
Michigan House of Representatives
P.O. Box 30014
Lansing, MI 48909
The Honorable Jim Ananich
Senate Minority Leader
Michigan State Senate
P.O. Box 30036
Lansing, MI 48909
The Honorable Tim Greimel
House Minority Leader
Michigan House of Representatives
P.O.Box 30014
Lansing, MI 48909
Dear Leaders:
We appreciate the work you are doing to find a long-term solution to fixing our roads. Earlier this year, Business Leaders for Michigan (BLM) established five principles to evaluate road funding proposals:
- It should provide funding sufficient to ensure good quality road and bridge conditions;
- It should include road and bridge warranties;
- The funding source should be sustainable and dedicated;
- The revenue should come from the users of our roads and bridges; and
We have serious concerns that the House and Senate road funding proposals will not meet several of these principles, because of their heavy reliance on General Fund revenues. While we believe some General Fund monies could be part of a final solution, relying heavily on them to fund our long-term road needs isn’t sustainable and puts other critical needs at risk – ranging from potential Medicaid shortfalls and less money for community services to higher tuition bills and weaker efforts to attract jobs. These priorities are just as important as fixing potholes.
We continue to believe the fairest solution is one that relies on the users of our highways to pay for their upkeep and repair – gasoline taxes, registration fees or similar revenue sources. We urge you to pass legislation that relies more heavily on user-based sources of revenue than General Funds which fund other critical services for our citizens. Let’s get this problem solved, but solved the right way.
Sincerely,
Doug Rothwell
President & CEO
cc: The Honorable Rick Snyder, Governor
The Honorable Brian Calley, Lieutenant Governor
Members of the Michigan Senate
Members of the Michigan House of Representatives
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