LANSING— Michigan communities will receive more than $35.5 million in Safe Streets and Roads for All grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation, with Kalamazoo County taking home $25 million to implement strategies to improve safety and prevent traffic deaths and serious injuries over more than 130 miles of primary roadways—most of which are rural.
LANSING - Republican legislative leaders submitted a menu of additional road-funding options to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, some she'd seen before like bonding against the teacher retirement system. Some she had not. However, the Governor took a public jab at a key tenant to the Republicans' plan, which is to replace the sales tax on gasoline
LANSING - Sharp rhetoric over the path to adequate road funding preceded a unanimous vote for Michigan legislation to inject an additional $175 million into state roads this fiscal year, with a few minor additions for spending priorities for other departments. HB 4321 passed 36-0 after Democratic amendments were jettisoned that would have infused even more
LANSING - Michigan's gas tax revenues were down more than $120 Million to $820.6 million in fiscal year 2013-14 since their peak more than a decade before, a report by the Department of Treasury shows. During the same time frame, total gasoline usage is down more than 600,000 gallons annually. What is now the state's
LANSING - Governor Rick Snyder said Tuesday night he is ready to sign a road funding proposal that will generate $1.2 billion for the state's roads and bridges by 2021 after the House and Senate gave the final green light to an amended package on Tuesday. With House passage of the key components just before 10:30
LANSING - A spokesperson for the Michigan Senate majority leader said Wednesday she thinks the earliest the Senate could try again to vote on a road funding solution is next week given the expected absence of some members for the remainder of this week, though the registration fee increase in the House-passed proposal is still
LANSING - Organizations are starting to review the roads plan the House passed late Wednesday night, and the first reviews of the proposal are not positive. One reaction was hostile, though the reaction came from an organization circulating petitions to increase the state's Corporate Income Tax to help pay for a roads plan. But other
LANSING - Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof was very mild in his reaction to the road funding proposal passed by the House Wednesday night, largely saying he is grateful the House sent something over. But Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich had more serious concerns. "I think it's a pretty major step backwards. I think it doesn't address the issues
LANSING – Michigan House Republicans on Wednesday found the votes, mostly within their own caucus, to pass a $1.2 billion road funding plan with no guarantees of support from Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof or Governor Rick Snyder. The plan involved $600 million in new revenue through a gas tax increase and registration fee increases and $600
LANSING - Rep. Robert Kosowski on Wednesday told the Michigan House Regulatory Reform Committee one way to get more funding for the state's roads and bridges is to legalize sports gambling and simulcasting horse races at casinos in the state. HB 4469 and HB 4470 would allow casinos to accept wagers on sporting events, remove the current prohibition on
