A proposal to greatly increase Michigan’s gas tax goes before a state Senate committee tomorrow.
The proposal has already cleared the state House. Among other things, it calls for taxing fuel based on price, instead of volume. It would generate about $500 million in new tax revenue. That's about a third of what Gov. Rick Snyder and others say is needed to fix the roads.
Rich Studley is with the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. He says a new poll, commissioned by the chamber, shows Michigan motorists are willing to pay the price of fixing the state’s crumbling roads.
“They understand this problem is not going away,” says Studley, “and that’s why there is such strong support for a substantial and permanent increase in transportation funding now.”
Sixty-eight percent of those polled said they would be willing to pay $10 a month more for gasoline, if it meant more money to fix Michigan’s roads.
Studley fears if state lawmakers don’t pass a road funding bill before they take their summer break next month, it might be 2016 before the issue will be addressed again.
