The Legislature has approved a mid-year budget bill that includes $215 million for roads. It now goes to Governor Rick Snyder.
State Representative Joe Haveman chairs the House Appropriations Committee. He says a lot of the money will go to reimburse local governments for money they’ve already spent clearing streets and patching potholes.
“We wanted to focus as much as possible back to the local communities, the road commissions, the cities, villages, and townships to make sure they’re fixing potholes first, fixing their problems with depleted salt funds, things like that and get through this winter,” said Haveman. “It keeps going, this winter.”
Haveman says the additional money for road salt and potholes could make it harder for Republicans to use a budget windfall for an election year tax cut.
