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Michigan Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive, talks to reporters after a Government Operations Committee meeting on June 30, 2015.
(Jonathan Oosting | MLive.com)
Michigan citizens should be alarmed about the latest road funding plan passed by the state Senate.
Rather than doing what is necessary -- raising new revenue to fully fund our crumbling roads -- the Senate approved a plan that would likely have devastating consequences for Michigan's public schools and communities.
It is now up to Gov. Rick Snyder to take a strong stand, forcing legislators to make the hard political choices necessary to fix our roads with increased gas tax revenue. And he should use as a model the 2014 Senate bill, which did just that, and which he previously supported. It simply brings the existing road funding mechanism up to current funding needs.
It's the only viable plan out there that makes sense.
These are the facts. Michigan has not been collecting enough revenue to pay for its roads for 18 years. The last gas tax increase was in 1997. Inflation and improved fuel economy have reduced the spending power of that funding. Our neighboring states in the Midwest spend hundreds more per capita on roads than we do.
We wish Republican leaders would drop the charade and be honest about these facts, unpopular as they may be.
But they continue to muddle the issue with political calculus. Senate Republican leader Arlan Meekhof's current plan raises some new revenue through an increase in fuel taxes that would generate $822 million for roads by fiscal year 2018. Alas, it's not nearly enough, as experts say we now need at least $1.5 billion per year to address our long-neglected and steadily deteriorating roads and bridges.
Troublingly, Meekhof and his Republican colleagues won't say where the rest of the funding will come from, except that it will be general fund money to the tune of $350 million in 2017 and a whopping $700 million in 2018.
That should alarm every citizen of this state, because it surely means more funding cuts for K-12 schools, community colleges and universities, and community health services. The notion that there is $700 million of "waste" in the $10 billion general fund budget is pure folly.
If lawmakers cut 7 percent of the general fund budget, as this plan calls for, residents throughout the state will feel the negative consequences. These may include increased K-12 class sizes, higher tuition costs, reduced quality of education, and cuts to health services on which the elderly and poor depend.
It is cowardly and irresponsible for Meekhof and his colleagues to refuse to outline what, exactly, they will cut. We call on them to immediately give a detailed accounting of what will be on the chopping block.
No doubt they are afraid to, because they know voters will not support them. An overwhelming majority of voters polled right before Proposal 1's defeat strongly opposed cuts to K-12 schools or health care services for the elderly and poor. A majority also opposed cuts to higher education.
The fact is, we cannot cut our way to better roads without harming other aspects of our quality of life.
Meekhof's plan also contains a bizarrely out-of-place stipulation to reduce the state income tax rate whenever future growth exceeds inflation. This measure would limit the ability of future lawmakers to dedicate revenue to address future needs. Education, revenue sharing and other critical aspects of funding have been cut deeply since the Great Recession, and residents have felt the pain. Those cuts would be locked into place even as our state rebounds.
It's bad policy and has no place in a road funding bill.
Clearly, it's an opportunistic move catering to the anti-government fringe, and a selfish attempt to provide cover for legislators who are afraid to raise the taxes necessary to fix our roads, even though informed residents know that's what this state needs.
Indeed, a majority of voters polled in May said they would support a "clean" tax hike to fully fund roads -- one that doesn't add on extra funding for other programs. And yet, Republican leaders continue to misrepresent the defeat as a vote against all tax hikes.
The Senate and House bills will now likely go to conference committee, where the governor would have the opportunity to meet with legislative leaders and shape the final plan. Snyder has repeatedly stated that new revenue is needed, and last year he supported the Senate plan that would have fully funded roads by more than doubling the gas tax.
We have no faith that Republican legislative leaders will willingly back off their extreme proposals. Gov. Snyder needs to find his voice, threaten the veto, and finally show some strong leadership for what he has said he believes to be the right way to fund our roads -- through new revenue.
This is the opinion of the editorial board of MLive Media Group, the parent company of MLive.com. The board is made up of the company's executive leadership, content directors and editors who oversee the 10 local markets that make up MLive Media Group. See the full list of editorial board members.