Michigan hasn't even passed this law and already the politicians are siphoning off money for mass transit.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan praised the Senate's action, saying "this bill will allow us to speed up repair of Detroit's roads and make major improvements to the bus service for our 100,000 passengers daily."
Coleman Young Jr, D-Detroit, said the action taken on increasing fines on overweight trucks was enough to change his mind from not voting on the gas tax bill the first time it was taken up to supporting it the second time around.
He also appreciated the flexibility included in the bills for the city of Detroit to devote 20% of the road funding coming to them toward buses. "My district is along the Woodward corridor, so that's a good thing too," Young said. "but that's not the thing that really moved me. We had to go after the truckers."
Snyder told reporters today he would prefer the Legislature pass a revenue measure such as a gas tax hike, then offer voters an option such as a sales tax hike as an alternative, if members want to consider going that route. That way, some measure gets approved either way, he said.
Thank you Mr. Snyder. Its always nice to have options.