LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – With Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer and her colleagues in the Michigan legislature running the show, they are eager to make big changes. One of their main priorities is the “MI Healthy Climate” plan which requires the state to generate all of its electricity from solar, wind and other carbon-free sources by 2035. The plan, developed by EGLE (Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy) outlines how Michigan will be fighting the climate crisis by reducing greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2025 and 52% by 2030. Additionally, they plan to achieve economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2050.
In pursuit of that goal, they have been partnering with economic development companies and local governments on Megasite battery plants to support EVs (electric vehicles) and plan to shut down coal-fired plants in the state by 2030. Governor Whitmer and the Democrats in the state have been doing everything they can to electrify vehicles and increase public transit and wean people off their fossil-fuel vehicles.
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However, if their dreams come to fruition, there will be a lot less gas consumed by Michiganders which leads to a lot less taxes going into the Michigan coffers to pay for road repairs. According to Bridge Michigan, the state has already lost out on an estimated $50 million from 2019 to 2021 due to electric vehicles on the road.
To solve that problem and a possible shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars by 2030, Gov. Whitmer is looking at usage charges where drivers will be charged by the amount of miles they drive rather than the amount of gas consumed. To do this, the state government is looking at putting GPS trackers in the vehicles of Michiganders. Oregon has a similar plan in place where they charge 1.9¢ per mile. Utah charges drivers 1¢ per mile.
Moving ahead with the idea, the state is poised to spend more than $5 million this fall on a survey of 20,000 residents to find out how they feel about the pay-as-you-go mileage tax. Whitmer’s recent budget included efforts to look into alternatives to the gas tax and will spend the money, which includes $2.6 million from a federal grant, to study the potential impact a road usage charge system (RUC) will have on the state. Part of the study will include asking about the willingness of drivers to have a GPS system installed in their vehicles to record their mileage – or to self-report their mileage. Other options could include odometer image capturing systems using cellphone photos.
The Democrats aren’t stopping there though. The budget also directs MDOT (Michigan Dept. of Transportation) to apply for federal grant funding for a national “motor vehicle per-mile user fee pilot program.” This money comes from the $1 billion infrastructure bill that went through at the end of 2021. If the grant is approved, Michigan will use the money to “establish a pilot program to determine the feasibility of road usage charges as a replacement for motor fuel taxes as a basis for transportation funding.”
Gov. Whitmer has said in the past that she wants to put together a bipartisan approach to the road funding issue that “recognizes the historic transition that’s happening in the auto industry.” It remains to be seen if that effort ends up being bipartisan with a Democratic Michigan House, Senate and Governor who are trying to figure out the future of road funding and, at the same time, increase the amount of EVs on Michigan streets.
