Sen. Randy Richardville
Metro Detroit has some roads from hell.
Take Greenfield Road between 8 and 9 Mile in Southfield. It's like driving down a road that has speed bumps every five feet. The road is buckling every step of the way and your car absorbs every imperfection.
Will state lawmakers do something about it?
Chad Livengood of the Detroit News reports that a self-imposed legislative clock is ticking as lawmakers consider raising the gas tax and eliminating discounts on vehicle registration fees to generate $1.5 billion extra a year to repair bridges and roads.
Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, said he's in talk with legislative leaders about the matter, the News reports.
The summer recess is approaching.
Livengood writes:
As an alternative, Richardville said, lawmakers may place a 1 percent or 1.25 cent increase in the 6 cent sales tax on the November ballot and let voters decide which plan becomes law Jan. 1. The sales tax would be dedicated to roads and bridges.
“Those are the options that we’re looking at. And I think it’s going to have to be almost surgically completed for us to do it right,” Richardville told reporters. “We have to make sure the math is right and we don’t shortchange the roads. I mean, if we’re going to do this, let’s do it right.”
Placing a sales tax increase on the November ballot would require a two-thirds vote of both houses of the Legislature, meaning GOP leaders would have to get Democratic votes in the House and the full support of their 26-seat Senate super-majority.
Allan Lengel
