LANSING – A bill that would raise revenue for roads by $135 million per year, but also reduce revenue to the general fund by the same amount, passed the Senate Tuesday.
With the passage of SB 351 , the Senate will instead provide no general fund to the Department of Transportation budget to match federal grants, a move Governor Rick Snyder had proposed for the 2012-13 fiscal year to ensure the state could obtain its full allocation of federal matching funds.
Snyder had proposed spending $119 million from the general fund in what he said was a one-year move while he and the Legislature worked out overall transportation funding reform.
“I would rather see us do right by our constituents who believe that when you pay at the pump, the money goes to the roads,” said Sen. John Proos (R-St. Joseph), the bill sponsor. “We pay for it at the pump already. Let’s allocate it. … We’ll clear the decks of this discussion on the federal match.”
Passed 26-11, the bill would change how revenues raised by the 6 percent sales tax on gasoline purchases are distributed by the state. Under the bill, as now, 2 percent of the tax would go to the School Aid Fund.
Under the changes, 18 percent of the remaining 4 percent would go to the State Trunkline Fund. Most of the rest of the revenues would go, as they do now, to the School Aid Fund and revenue sharing for cities, villages and townships. Some of those latter fund recipients are constitutionally required.
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