More than five months after voters rejected Proposal 1, a tax plan to improve Michigan roads, lawmakers are going nowhere in fixing the lousy road problem.
Gov. Rick Snyder and legislative leaders declared an impasse Tuesday on how to raise an additional $1.2 billion annually to improve Michigan roads despite months of talks, The Detroit News reports:
Republican House Speaker Kevin Cotter of Mount Pleasant said a key sticking point in negotiations was offsetting hikes in the 19-cents-a-gallon state gasoline tax and vehicle registration fees with a broader tax cut.
Some Republicans lawmakers have been pushing for reducing Michigan’s 4.25 percent income tax rate to 3.9 percent — the previous rate before the Legislature increased individual tax bills in 2007 to balance the state budget during the economic recession.
But Snyder has not been so enamored with pursuing a tax cut because of uncertainty over the rising cost of the Medicaid insurance program for the poor and how much the state will have to shell out in tax credits owed to businesses.
"It’s fair to say people have different perspectives on what tax relief might look like," Snyder says.
