This week, the Republican controlled House and Senate passed a roads funding package. I voted no on the package because it:
- Raises taxes on working families without actually solving the problem of fixing our roads
- Cuts income taxes for the wealthiest
- Drains our state budget while putting funding for critical services in jeopardy
- Fails to address the issue of overweight trucks, which cause the most damage to our roads
Furthermore, the Republican road plan:
- Fails to identify where more than $800 million in budget cuts will be made, and fails to guarantee that public safety, education and health care funding will be protected
- Offers income tax breaks that disproportionally help millionaires and billionaires, while leaving regular working families to shoulder the burden of program cuts and road funding
- Will only generation $452 million in the first year and $608 million in the second year of the $1.2 billion needed annually for road funding, and won’t reach $1.2 billion in annual funds until fiscal year 2021 — meaning Michigan’s roads will continue to deteriorate for years to come
I firmly believe the Republican roads plan hurts many Michigan residents without presenting a clear, long-term solution to fixing our roads.