LANSING – The effort to win approval of new funding for roads ran into the same old problem Wednesday in the House saw negotiations fall apart with no solution in sight.
Without an agreement to bring aboard a large number of minority Democrats, majority House Republicans tried in vain to build up enough support within their 63-member caucus for a plan that would find $1.2 billion in new funding for roads through $600 million in new revenue and taking away $600 million from other programs and putting it toward roads instead.
With 55 votes needed for approval, there was too big a gap to bridge through an agreement with the Detroit Caucus and trying to cut side deals with other Democrats. And by midday, Rep. Brian Banks (D-Harper Woods), the chair of the Detroit Caucus, signaled that Detroit legislators were looking for more than just legislation helping the city collect all income tax revenues owed.
Further, a source knowledgeable with the situation said Governor Rick Snyder made it clear in closed-door talks with Republican legislative leaders Tuesday night that he opposes the House Republican plan that emerged last week to much fanfare that relies on the 600/600 split to come up with $1.2 billion. House Democrats have made it clear the $600 million in reductions is too much, and Mr. Snyder is in agreement on that point.
Snyder press secretary Sara Wurfel, of the talk that Snyder had issued a veto threat against $600 million in cuts, said, “He certainly has raised that we need to be incredibly careful and thoughtful about how that level of revenue is found.”
