Governor Snyder wants more investment in Michigan's infrastructure

In a speech today directed toward the Michigan Legislature, Governor Snyder expressed his desire to improve just about every bit of infrastructure in the state.

Roads, bridges, airports, ports, rail, water lines, sewage pipes, and broadband Internet connectivity - it was all on the table, and the Michigan Governor said the state's infrastructure was suffering from a lack of investment.

The Governor said the state's economic recovery is tied to investing in all these bits of infrastructure, and that there is "no time to waste."

From a press release:

"Modern roads, clean water and broadband access are among the building blocks of Michigan's prosperity," Snyder said.

"If we want to grow our economy and keep our children here, then we need to fix the very foundation of our state. Michigan put the world on wheels. We can continue being a transportation leader through bold, innovative approaches to upgrading our infrastructure. It's time to seriously engage in this discussion that is so vital to our state's future."

Snyder said that each dollar that is invested in a road or a bridge saves the state "at least $6 in future rebuilding costs."

Some of the revenue proposals from Governor Snyder include:

• Allowing counties and regional authorities to levy a local vehicle registration fee to support transportation if approved by local voters.
• Eliminating the state's current 19-cents-per-gallon gas tax and 15-cents-per-gallon diesel tax in favor of a percentage wholesale tax on fuel.
• Increasing investment in infrastructure by $1 billion to $1.4 billion each year. This could be done "for the sake of discussion" through a state registration fee increase of $10 per month on the average passenger vehicle would raise nearly $1 billion.