LANSING — The Michigan House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure voted this week to approve House Bill 5764, introduced by state Rep. Scott Dianda (D-Calumet), to provide county road commissions an easier method of improving their facilities and upgrading their equipment. The bill would allow county road commissions, like other government offices, to bond in order to raise funds for new buildings and equipment and pay back those bonds over 30 years. Under current law, commissions face more restrictive requirements than their counterparts by having to complete those payments in only 15 years.
“This is great step forward in making sure that Michigan families finally have better roads to drive on,” said Dianda. “For years, county road workers have been forced to use aging equipment and facilities that could seemingly fall apart at any moment. I want to make sure that even the road commissions in our smallest rural communities have access to the resources they need to make the improvements required for getting the job done.”
Dianda has stated that the bill was introduced in response to conditions county road commissions face in his district.
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