Bill Would Limit Use Of Public-Private Partnerships For Detroit River Crossing

LANSING – A revised version of a bill that would authorize the construction of the Detroit River International Crossing would limit the use public-private partnerships solely to the DRIC project, a key senator said Tuesday.

But Sen. Jud Gilbert (R-Algonac) said he still has no firm timetable to take the bill up for a vote in the Senate Transportation Committee he chairs. Gilbert said he continues to wait for the Department of Transportation to provide a security briefing for lawmakers on the issue.

Gilbert said he did not want to discuss all the changes underway to HB 4961 , but he said the legislation would exclude language enabling public-private partnerships, also known as P3s, to engage in other infrastructure projects besides the DRIC.

“What it’s going to be is DRIC specific,” he said. “The other P3s are left for another time.”

Gilbert said the bill also strengthens language to protect Michigan taxpayers.

“We’ve tried to firm it up a little bit so there would be less of a chance that taxpayers are going to be obligated in the future if there’s some kind of financial failure,” he said.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com

a>>