LANSING – State Representative Marilyn Lane (D-Fraser) said tonight that it was a lack of political courage that caused the Republican majority to adjourn without approving a plan to fix Michigan’s roads. Lane offered her bills, House Bills 5143 and 5456, as a way to, at the very least, protect the roads from overweight trucks, and to ensure that motorists aren’t hit with higher insurance costs because of car repairs from pothole damage.
“There is no excuse for leaving Lansing without a plan to fix our roads, which is what my constituents have said loud and clear that they expect us to do,” said Lane. “Without a real solution to our roads then we at least need to pass my bills, which would lower truck weight limits to the federal standard in order to limit future damage to our roads, and protect motorists when their cars are damaged from bad roads.”
Lane’s House Bill 5143 would halve certain truck weight limits from 164,000 pounds to the federal standard of 80,000 pounds. House Bill 5456 would prevent insurance companies from raising auto insurance rates when a driver submits a claim from pothole damage to their vehicle.
“My bills are not answers to our road problems but they will give motorists some relief from problems created by the majority’s inability to pass a long-term fix for our roads,” said Lane. “By passing my bills, we can at least prevent damage to our roads from overweight trucks going forward, and prevent our constituents from having to foot the bill for the majority’s negligence. We shouldn’t let insurance companies profit from the fact that they couldn’t agree on a plan to fix the roads.”
House Bill 5143 was introduced in November, 2013, and is still waiting on a hearing in the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. House Bill 5456 was introduced in April and awaits action in the House Committee on Insurance.
“My colleagues and I in the House made the heavy lift to send a real foundation for road funding to the Senate,” said Lane. “To see our legislation stop there to adjourn for the summer is shameful and simply reckless. I’ll continue to work on a solution with or without session being held.”