LANSING – The Michigan Senate is likely to refer a package of House bills on road funding to the Senate Infrastructure Modernization Committee that Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville created more than a year ago, he told Gongwer News Service on Monday.

“They’ll take it up and have hearings about (the package),” Richardville (R-Monroe) said.

Last week, the House passed a series of bills (HB 4251 , HB 4630 , HB 5167 , HB 5452 , HB 5453 , HB 5459 , HB 5460 , HB 5477 , HB 5492 and HB 5493 ) that House Speaker Jase Bolger (R-Marshall) has proposed to raise $450 million more for roads.

There has been some criticism that the bills don’t raise enough of the estimated $1.2 billion annually that experts say is necessary for the problem, but Richardville did not divulge where he or the caucus stands on that point.

“I would like to see us go higher, but if we’re going to fix this problem, let’s fix it,” he said. “We’re going to have a discussion about should we get the thing done and fix this structural problem or is it not time to do that yet.”

The transportation package, like other big legislation, will face a battle in trying to get legislators’ attention considering the May Revenue Estimating Conference later this week and the task of trying to finish the budget before the annual Mackinac Island Conference at the end of the month. Mr. Richardville has maintained that the budget undoubtedly will take precedence, but first both chambers must non-concur in each other’s proposals to send them to conference committees.

Richardville said conference committees could be underway by the end of the week, but the revenue estimating conference is “a critical piece of this equation” as well. With the conference on Thursday, that leaves to question whether the Legislature will get everything done in less than two weeks.

“If that causes us to be a day or two behind Mackinac, I think there’s a whole different dynamic (about the budget process) now,” he said. “We used to not like to go up to Mackinac unless things were done, but I think a lot of people have a lot of confidence in the budget process now.”

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