State lawmakers return this week from a month-long break with hopes of passing a new road funding plan. Action on road funding has been stalled since July when lawmakers left Lansing for a month-long break.
That’s after after the state House declined to take up legislation that was narrowly approved by the state Senate. Leaders in the House say talks have been ongoing.
“We’ve done a lot of work behind the scenes trying to whittle down our options,”
said Gideon D’Assandro, a spokesperson for state House Speaker Kevin Cotter (R-Mt. Pleasant).
“There are a lot of ideas out there and everybody has their favorite. Our job over the last few weeks has been to combine the best parts of every plan and put together the best possible solution we can find.”
But there are still many details to finalize. The target is to increase road funding by $1.2 billion. Half of the money would come from raising taxes or fees. The other half would come from shifting money from other areas of the budget.
