LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is still going to “fix the damn roads” during her second term in office, but doing so may require more funding.
The governor told the Free Press in an interview this week that the push to bring about electric vehicles and squelch gas-powered cars requires a new funding system.
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“I will not be proposing a 45-cent gas tax (increase); I can say that definitively,” Whitmer said in the interview. She’s referring to the gas road funding tax she tried to implement during her first term in office before the Legislature shot down the measure.
Most of Michigan’s road funding comes from fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees. In addition, the state’s general fund allots $600 million a year for roads.
“We are undergoing a historic transformation from ICE (internal combustion engines) to EVs (electric vehicles) and being able to build out and maintain infrastructure that can support this technology is something that every state in the country is going to grapple with,” Whitmer said. She referenced the needed transition will be a bipartisan effort and be “stakeholder-inclusive.”
The Michigan Infrastructure & Transportation Association (MITA) signaled a study on EVs and how they impact road funding is expected by the spring of 2023.
In a press release, MITA said referenced the “Blue Wave” following last week’s election, where Michigan’s top three offices and both chambers are controlled by the Democratic Party.
“What this all means for Michigan and specifically for the heavy construction season is yet to be seen. With her party in control of both the House and Senate, Governor Whitmer will have more help in moving her agenda forward, which includes a long-term sustainable infrastructure funding solution. And as MITA has mentioned in the past, we have been very strategic and unbiased in our political giving and have great relationships with those coming to serve in the Legislature in 2023,” MITA wrote.
