The Michigan Senate on Tuesday narrowly approved increasing state’s fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees to partially fund a $1.2 billion road funding package – but not until after the next general election.
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Senate Majority Leader Arlen Meekhof says he expects the House to vote on the revised bills later Tuesday night.
Democrats continue to argue tax cut talks should only target low-income workers, but beyond that have said could end up draining Michigan of needed funding in other areas like education.
The plan will still have to be approved by the state House before the package of bills can be sent to Gov. Rick Snyder for his signatures. Lawmakers also approved a 20 percent increase in vehicle registration fees, reducing it from the original 40 percent increase that had been approved by House lawmakers. Snyder says “every moment is critical” in trying to capture a suspect.
“This is a tax nightmare that are our successors will have to untangle years from now”, said Sen.
The compromise road funding plan, brokered by majority Republicans after months of negotiations, would raise the tax on gasoline by 7.3 cents and hike the diesel tax by 11.3 cents on January 1, 2017.
But Democrats denounced the plan as one that is fiscally irresponsible and raises certain taxes without fixing the road problem.
A Homestead Property Tax Credit and an income tax rollback that would begin in 2023 also passed, but the tax rollback would only kick in if Michigan’s general fund grows beyond inflation. The plan also calls for inflationary adjustments to the percentage of household resources used as the threshold for calculating the credit, which is now set at 3.5%. The House plan passed in October did the opposite. The goal is to promote research into long-term “50 year road fixes”.
The chamber could pass a new proposal Tuesday.
Starting in the 2021 fiscal year, the Legislature wants future lawmakers to contribute $600 million in general government tax revenue toward roads and bridges.
Republican majorities in the House and Senate have disagreed on how to generate that new revenue. Lawmakers still need to approve the money on an annual basis.
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Bi-partisan supporters say a special alert could have led to a faster arrest in the fatal shooting of Trooper Paul Butterfield in Mason County in 2013.
