LANSING – Three non-legislative options the Snyder administration could pursue to complete the New International Trade Crossing involve handing the project over to the Canadian government, federal or city of Detroit government, or any combination of those entities, sources tell Gongwer News Service.
Those options were weighed, although briefly, by the administration of Governor Jennifer Granholm when the bridge crossing between Detroit and Canada failed to win legislative approval at the end of 2010.
Leading up to that point, Granholm and her team had focused solely on winning enough votes in the Senate during lame duck session and were told if a vote were held, there would be enough votes to pass the bill.
The Granholm administration had urged now-Governor Rick Snyder to get involved in persuading Republicans to support the bill, but per his public comments, Snyder declined to weigh in on the matter at the time.
A discharge motion eventually failed on December 2 and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) declared the issue dead.
Granholm’s staff looked into what non-legislative options were on the table, but simply ran out of time to get the then-Detroit River International Crossing off the ground, sources said.
Snyder assumed office January 1 and announced his support for the NITC in his State of the State address on January 19.
SB 410 wasn’t introduced in the Legislature until June and failed in a dramatic committee vote earlier this month.
Snyder has said a cooling off period is necessary on the issue, but that the administration is still seeking a legislative solution to the bridge.
Over the summer, Lt. Governor Brian Calley hinted there were non-legislative options available on the NITC, but hasn’t elaborated further.
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