LANSING – Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville unveiled Wednesday a major change to one transportation bill on Wednesday that would gradually increase the new percentage tax on gasoline starting at 9.5 percent on January 1, 2015, but Senate Democrats seem less-than-pleased for now.

The change to HB 5477 , which would repeal current fuel taxes – 19 cents per gallon on gasoline and 15 cents per gallon on diesel – and replace them with the percentage tax on the wholesale price, was the most significant change made to three House bills and two Senate bills that are expected to be part of an overall funding package. The House had called for a 6 percent tax to raise the same revenue generated by the current taxes, but the Richardville plan would mean a major increase in revenue.

“I think some real forward progress has happened today,” Richardville (R-Monroe) told reporters after session. “Some people asked for a little more time to look at the detail because … it’s a new concept, they’re new numbers. I hope that Tuesday we have the opportunity to move them off the next level and over to the House.”

Through Richardville’s substitute, the percentage would go from 9.5 percent on January 1, 2015, to 11.5 percent in 2016; 13.5 percent in 2017; and 15.5 percent in 2018. Richardville said that change, along with all changes by the House and the elimination of a 10 percent reduction in registration fees for purchasers of new vehicles over three years through HB 4630 , could bring in somewhere between $600 million and $700 million. By ramping up the changes over time, it would account for some $1.4 billion or $1.5 billion, Richardville said.

The scope of the increase is getting a mixed response from Richardville’s Senate Republicans, and Senate Democrats didn’t seem ready to jump aboard either.

Once fully phased in, a 15.5 percent tax on the wholesale price would be the equivalent of about a 45-cent per gallon gasoline tax under the current system.

The only bill to see a change from the version reported by the Senate Infrastructure Modernization Committee earlier on Wednesday was the change by Richardville on HB 5477. The elimination of the 10 percent credit came in an S-2 substitute to HB 4630 that left the committee on a 4-3 vote, with Sen. Jack Brandenburg (R-Harrison Township) joining Democrats Sen. Rebekah Warren of Ann Arbor and Sen Morris Hood III of Detroit to oppose it being reported to the full floor.

Warren offered several amendments to HB 4630 that are likely to come up on the Senate floor when the chamber takes the bills up again next week. Among those amendments were tie-barring the bill to HB 5452 , a bill among the 10-bill package by the House that increase permit fees for overweight trucks; and offering a tax credit for gas purchased based on income levels.

But Sen. Roger Kahn (R-Saginaw Township), chair of the committee, argued the former amendment was premature as this was “wave one” that the Senate is considering from the House package, and the amendments were defeated.

Indeed, the committee has yet to take up HB 5167 , HB 4251 , HB 5453 , HB 5460 , HB 5459 and HB 5492 , all of which have passed the House.

Democrats argued HB 4630 did nothing to address citizens with the lowest incomes, who, as Sen. Morris Hood III (D-Detroit) put it, “just don’t have any more to give” when it comes to paying more at the pump.

“When you talk about folks below the poverty level and people who are poor – poor in my district means you got a little bit of something, but most folks don’t have anything,” he said.

Democrats stuck to that message throughout the committee hearing, and Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) reiterated it as among several concerns Democrats have about supporting the package the Senate ended up advancing to Third Reading.

“I do think there is great interest from a lot of people in my caucus in supporting a package, but this is not the right package. After three years of a continuous shift of taxes from the business community onto people, we’re worried this represents another massive tax increase that is going to be borne by individuals more than anybody else,” she said. “We need to know there are protections for people that struggle the most in this.

Of the Democrats’ argument in committee, Kahn said after the meeting, “I think that we need to look at the jobs this is bringing. This is a 30,000-job creating package. It is supported by virtually every labor union that has any impact whatsoever on roads in this state. So I think that’s more than an adequate response to that (argument).”

But Democratic support could be critical on the package with which some Republicans are still largely uncomfortable. Sen. Patrick Colbeck (R-Canton Township), for instance, criticized on the Senate floor the resolution of increasing taxes to pay for structural problems within the budget.

And Brandenburg said in committee that a solution for road funding should go on the ballot for a vote of the people.

“I’ve listened to everybody talk and I’ve said very little, but I think the best way to get to the bottom of this road problem … is to put a 1 cent sales tax on the ballot and let the people vote on it,” Brandenburg said prior to voting in opposition to reporting HB 4630. He also opposed with Democrats reporting HB 5477 from committee.

No amendments were proposed to HB 5493 , which cleared the committee 6-0 (Brandenburg abstained from voting), or SB 6 and SB 149 , both which were reported unanimously. SB 6 serves as a replacement to HB 5459, the latter of which was passed by the House. Both earmark distribution of a portion of the sales tax revenue for transportation, but SB 6 runs the money through the state’s current formula for distribution, which ensures mass transit receives a portion of money. The Senate bill also designates a specific place for that earmarked revenue to go to.

MINIMUM WAGE DEBATE: Richardville, speaking after session, said he is confident he does have the votes to pass the bills and in a bipartisan fashion. But asked if getting minimum wage to pass in the House (where it currently awaits action) while still keeping it something Democrats like is part of that, Richardville would not confirm.

“Everything is tied together but there’s no tie-bar. Some people are being asked on an individual basis … to make one vote that affects how they may vote on something else. So we have to kind of re-ante every time and see where the individuals are,” he said of the scenario. “They’re related because peoples’ voting record is related and we’re trying to be sensitive to that on both sides of the aisle.”

JOINT RESOLUTION TO INCREASE THE SALES TAX: The Senate discharged from committee SJR J , which proposes to increase the sales tax by 2 percent, but did not push the bill further. Richardville, sponsor of the measure, said that was to keep it as a potential solution down the road.

“I want people to know that this isn’t the final solution, that there’s more work that could be done, and some of it could include asking the people to amend the constitution to fix this problem,” he told reporters after session. “The only reason this can’t be done now is because it is a constitutional issue and it has to go to the ballot.”

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