LANSING – Now that the Republican-led Legislature and Governor Rick Snyder have swallowed a hard pill and enacted a minimum wage increase they preferred not to pursue, the big question Tuesday evening at the Capitol is whether doing so would assure Democratic support for a major increase in transportation funding.

The early answer from the Legislature’s top two Democrats was that increasing the minimum wage is not single-handedly going to bring about Democratic support for transportation revenue.

“This opens the door to further discussions on transportation funding and we’ll see what the coming days bring in terms of discussions,” House Minority Leader Tim Greimel (D-Auburn Hills) said after the minimum wage vote in the House.

From the time Snyder began pressing to raise more than a billion dollars in new transportation revenues for roads, Democrats have voiced concern about doing so in a way that disproportionately affects those with lower incomes.

Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) said she expected Democrats to place several different ideas on the table for discussion, including relief for individuals having to pay higher taxes for transportation.

“There’s still a lot yet to be figured out, but we’re still at the table,” she said. “It’s meaningful that we were able to find some common ground on (the minimum wage). But we have no agreement on transportation and haven’t really engaged in substantive talks as of yet.”

Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville (R-Monroe) did not say much when asked what the minimum wage enactment would mean for transportation funding other than to quip, “We have one less thing to talk about.”

Richardville spokesperson Amber McCann said it is unlikely that the Senate would take up the transportation funding bills Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Senate Infrastructure Modernization Committee took another crack Tuesday at three more bills from the House that aim to help provide more money for road repair and maintenance in Michigan, but it did not vote on any of the bills due to specific concerns from committee members that could not be immediately resolved.

Some members were concerned, for instance, about the provisions contained within HB 5460 regarding the cost to small municipalities to secure warranties for projects exceeding $1 million, construction projects undertaken after the bill takes effect, and other projects where possible.

There were similar concerns with HB 5167 , which would allow the Michigan Transportation Fund to permit the Department of Transportation to contract with private sector companies, as well as local road agencies, to perform road work, and include maintenance in the work that may be subject of a contract. The bill also makes local road agencies subject to the same competitive bidding requirements that apply to MDOT, which was a major concern for Sen. Mark Jansen (R-Gaines Township), who said he had township officials worried about the administrative costs associated with that process.

That bill also would require at least 20 percent of all new or renewed maintenance contracts entered into by MDOT, or by a local road agency that received at least $20 million from the Fund in 2013, to provide for payment based on performance outputs or outcomes.

Sen. Roger Kahn (R-Saginaw Township), chair of the committee, said the committee would likely return to discussing those bills, as well as HB 5453 on overweight vehicle fines and HB 5452 on oversize vehicle permit fees, next week.

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