MACKINAC ISLAND – Governor Rick Snyder said Wednesday his push to overhaul the transportation funding system will have to wait until next year as the election draws nearer and the legislators are inching toward the door for summer break.
He delivered his special message on transportation in October and bills were introduced in late January, though most have not gone anywhere. Lawmakers, especially in the House, have been reticent to tackle the issue of revenue, which Snyder said is needed is fix and maintain the system.
“We’re not going to get into the funding piece,” Snyder said in an interview with Gongwer News Service. “We want to get as much support from both chambers, both parties as possible on this transportation issue, because this should be a topic where people can find common ground, and it would be hard to do before the election.”
The lack of action by lawmakers will mean it will have to wait until 2013 because there is little time left before members head back to their districts to campaign this summer, and because some of these issues would require tough votes before the election, he said. Snyder’s administration also has signaled distaste for trying to pursue major issues in the post-election lame-duck session.
To raise $1.4 billion for the road system, Snyder proposed a revised gasoline tax that raised more revenue than the current one and boosting vehicle registration fees an average of $60 per vehicle.
Snyder said he will again make a big push for his transportation funding ideas next year because it was put off another year.
“This is something we need to get done,” he said.
But there are pieces of his plan that do not require funding and he urged members to keep working on those like they did with the road commission bills.
“I would appreciate their support of working through that before the election,” he said.
While his plan contained a purposely broad framework so people wouldn’t immediately be locked into opposing it, he said there has been a good discussion about the need for an additional $1 billion to $1.5 billion annually to fund transportation in the state.
“That’s gone reasonably well,” he said.
Rep. Paul Opsommer (R-DeWitt), chair of the House Transportation Committee, said Snyder’s comments came as a surprise and a disappointment.
Saying he had been working on the proposals, Opsommer said he would continue to work on them and “I still hope we can get it through.”
One lobbyist who follows transportation issues, and who spoke on background, said he had been told at the beginning of the year the administration decided it could not get its transportation funding proposals passed this year because of the legislative makeup.
The only thing surprising about Snyder’s comments, this individual said, was that he went public with them.
This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com
a>>
