LANSING – House Speaker Jase Bolger said Wednesday both tax relief and road funding can be priorities with a $1 billion surplus.

“When you’re dealing with $1 billion, what it comes down to is balancing those priorities,” Bolger (R-Marshall) said. “I think we need to fix our roads. I want to see us continue to increase our investment in education. But I also think there remains room to adopt tax reform. … It’s great news to be debating a surplus.”

Bolger’s comments come as some members of his caucus who have led the charge to reduce the income tax rate say they see roads as a more important priority.

Bolger said he continues to meet with both Rep. Wayne Schmidt and Rep. Marilyn Lane (D-Fraser), chairs of the House Transportation Committee, and House Minority Leader Tim Greimel (D-Auburn Hills) on long-term road funding.

“We’ve got two years potentially fixing those patches. And they are technically one-time but they are year after year,” he said of extra road funding being appropriated. “We are continuing to have conversations, and I am meeting virtually weekly with the minority leader, with the two transportation leaders, Chair Schmidt and minority Vice Chair Lane, and we are talking every week where we can come together and find a building block.”

He said he believes they are making significant progress.

“We continue to have those meetings and I think we are getting closer and closer,” he said. “That last bit is always the toughest. We’re not there yet, but it’s my hope to be there.”

EAA: Bolger also said HB 4369 isn’t a bill about the Education Achievement Authority, it is about the state’s school reform office.

“This is not an EAA bill, nor an EAA discussion. I think it was productive that state superintendent said it was no longer exclusive with the EAA,” he said. “What we’re doing is we’re dealing with kids who are trapped in failing schools. And so we have to provide a solution. We have to provide hope for them. But it’s not an EAA bill, that’s a misnomer. It’s a bill on how the state addresses those failing schools. That remains a work in progress. It’s another issue where we have a difference with the Senate.”

Bolger said he believes the House and Senate are very close to coming to a resolution.

“You can get to that 95 percent actually pretty quickly. It’s that last 5 percent where it gets tough,” he said. “And on this, the issue of difference of opinion has not been within the House. I think we can get there with the House. The issue has been making sure that we agree in the House and the Senate.”

On Wednesday, the House Democrats’ alternative (HB 5268 and HB 5269 ) to the EAA, was given notice to discharge from the House Education Committee.

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