Editorial Boards Supporting Increased Transportation Funding in 2010

Ann Arbor News
Battle Creek Enquirer
Bay City Times
Crain’s Detroit Business
Detroit Free Press
Detroit News
Flint Journal
Grand Rapids Press
Hometown Life
Lansing State Journal
Macomb Daily
Midland Daily News
Morning Sun
Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun
Muskegon Chronicle
Oakland Press
Port Huron Times Herald
Saginaw News
Spinal Column
The State News
Toledo Blade
Traverse City Record Eagle

Statewide Editorial Board Support “Top 10” Notable Quotes
1.1.10. Bay City Times: We'll tip a hat to Old Long Ago, as we stride toward our future
“Driving across any border into Michigan is like throwing your vehicle over a cliff. Our crumbling roads and bridges are that bad. Enact fuel taxes and road tolls to raise the billions to match the federal billions of dollars that we need to rebuild our transportation system, and to encourage people to drive the small, electric or fuel-efficient cars of the future…”

1.7.10. Saginaw News: Road tolls for thee, Michigan, could solve highway funding dilemma
“…The time to raise the fuel taxes in this state was yesterday. Our 19-cent-a-gallon tax on gasoline is middle of the road among the states Michigan ought to raise it at least a few cents a gallon. Then make the 15-cents-a-gallon diesel tax equal the gas tax. Michigan needs another road-funding source, something less dependent upon now-frugal drivers buying tanks full of fuel. That’s especially so now, as we are poised upon a revolution in electric cars — look ma, no fuel!”

1.29.10. Detroit News: Raising Michigan's fuel tax is essential to repairing a crumbling highway system
“Here is a hard truth for Michigan's motorists: Smooth roads and safe bridges cost money. If you want 'em, you've got to pay for 'em. Lawmakers have before them a straightforward bill to rescue Michigan's broken roads by boosting the state gasoline and diesel fuel taxes twice in four years. The question is whether backers can muster the votes to do what's right by approving the increases.”

2.7.10. Crain’s Detroit Business: It’s time to raise fuel taxes
“Raising taxes in a tough economy sounds counterintuitive. But Michigan must raise its taxes on gas and diesel fuel. It's an investment in our state, it's a way to ensure we won't lose federal matching funds, and it's a way to keep and add jobs in Michigan's road construction industry.”

2.9.10. Muskegon Chronicle: Bridging the Gap
“Sometimes you’ve got to bite the bullet. That’s the case with finding more funds to fix Michigan roads. As The Chronicle Editorial Board has said before, gas tax increases are in our future. Only now the situation has become urgent…”

2.26.10. Lansing State Journal: Time to return gas tax funds to our roads
“The economy dictates that we change laws so revenue generation is more closely aligned with its use. Taxpayers want us to prioritize and reform government, and transportation revenue can no longer afford to subsidize other funds and programs, especially when it is having trouble addressing its own basic needs.”

3.22.10. Battle Creek Enquirer: Why fund other states' roads?
“Transportation supports thousands of jobs within Michigan. Without a small revenue increase, more than 17,000 jobs are projected to be lost. This will only make Michigan's problems worse as we try to resolve our economic crisis. An increase in transportation funding is supported by not only the transportation industry, but also the American Manufacturing Association, the trucking industry and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.”

5.13.10. Toledo Blade: An offer Michigan needs
“The people who don't want taxes of any kind … need to face reality. The roads and bridges are deteriorating every year from traffic and the freeze-and-thaw cycles, and the state needs funding to repair them. Failing to snag almost half a billion dollars in federal highway funds would be close to a crime. Michigan voters need to let their elected leaders know that in no uncertain terms, before it's too late.”

6.2.10. The State News: Michigan roads would benefit from tax increase
“…driving is a privilege and the taxes and fees are used to maintain a certain amount of quality for the enjoyment of said privilege. If there is a need to raise funds to meet minimum qualifications, the fees and taxes should be increased.”

7.31.10. Detroit Free Press: Find money for roads projects now
“Letting hundreds of millions of dollars for needed transportation projects -- and the thousands of jobs they create -- go to other states is a shameful legacy for any legislator to leave Michigan…”

Top 10 Editorials of 2010

1.29.10. Detroit News: Raising MI fuel tax is essential to repairing a crumbling highway system
Here is a hard truth for Michigan's motorists: Smooth roads and safe bridges cost money. If you want 'em, you've got to pay for 'em.

Lawmakers have before them a straightforward bill to rescue Michigan's broken roads by boosting the state gasoline and diesel fuel taxes twice in four years. The question is whether backers can muster the votes to do what's right by approving the increases.

Raising taxes is always tough and almost always a bad idea in a faltering economy. But Michigan roads, which are among the country's worst, will keep falling apart without the added $480 million these two-step fuel tax hikes would provide.

That's enough to rebuild or repair more than 12,000 miles of freeway lanes, fix 2,800 bridges and reconstruct 4,900 intersections, the state's Transportation Funding Task Force says.

Meanwhile, Michigan's transportation department has chopped 243 badly needed road repair projects out of its five-year plan because it can't afford them with the revenue expected from the two funding sources: fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees. The total is dropping because of a decline in fuel consumption and auto sales.

Failing to raise more money for roads ultimately will result in the loss to Michigan of more than $1 billion in federal transportation matching funds and a 30-percent drop in the number of miles of roads in good condition over the next five years.

The state gasoline tax, now 19 cents a gallon, would go up 4 cents to 23 cents a gallon on March 1 and another 4 cents to 27 cents on Jan. 1, 2013, under the bipartisan House measure. The state diesel tax, now at 15 cents a gallon, also would jump to 27 cents over the period.

That's justifiable because the state can't ignore its deteriorating infrastructure. You could argue with some of the other ways elected officials spend the state's treasure, but caring for roads, bridges, sewer lines and water mains are among the most basic of government's duties.

Fuel taxes are in essence user fees. A fundamental principle of public finance is that, as much as possible, those who directly benefit from a government service should pay for it.

More than half the states charge higher fuel taxes than does Michigan, led by the 30 cents or more per gallon in New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and neighboring Wisconsin. Minnesota levies 27.1 cents a gallon, Ohio, 26 cents. Unlike other taxes, there's no advantage to Michigan in having among the lowest fuel tax since it means also having the worst roads. A crumbling infrastructure is a deterrent to private investment and job creation.

What annoys some Michigan drivers is that ours is among the few states to attach its sales tax to the pump total. Unfortunately, the 6 percent sales tax levied on fuel purchases doesn't repair roads. It is mandated for K-12 school aid and other purposes. Some lawmakers would like to rectify that and perhaps could do so as part of a comprehensive tax reform.

The fuel tax legislation must be accompanied by tightened standards to guarantee consistent high-quality road work. Completed projects shouldn't have to be redone within a couple years, as has happened too often.
Lawmakers also must revamp the state's outdated road revenue sharing formula. It directs too much money to remote counties with many miles of lightly traveled roads while shorting congested urban roads.

Metro Detroit's three counties rank among the bottom 10 in state road funding per capita. Giving more weight to road miles traveled, rather than miles of roads, would shift the dollars to take care of the most pressing needs.

2.09.10. Muskegon Chronicle: Bridging the Gap

Sometimes you’ve got to bite the bullet.

That’s the case with finding more funds to fix Michigan roads. As The Chronicle Editorial Board has said before, gas tax increases are in our future. Only now the situation has become urgent.

Just two weeks ago, the State Transportation Commission announced it was delaying 19 road repair and bridge projects in West Michigan and 243 projects across the state because of a lack of funding.

This action comes at a time when the state is gaining a reputation for having some of the worst roads in the country. Michigan drew national attention on the History Channel last summer as part of a show titled, “The Crumbling of America.” A crew filmed portions of Michigan’s roads to highlight the issue of an aging transportation system across the nation.

Also, the American Society of Civil Engineers recently gave Michigan’s road system an overall grade of “D.” About 10,000 miles of primary roads in the state deteriorated from “good” or “fair” to “poor” between 2004 and 2007.

And these two reports are just the beginning of a half dozen or more from groups across the country criticizing the status of Michigan roads.

The poor economy, which has kept drivers home, combined with more cars getting better fuel mileage, made a serious dent in the amount of gas tax the state collected — such a serious dent that Michigan is not expected to have enough funds to make the 20 percent match it needs to get federal funding in 2011.

“That’s like an 80-percent-off coupon on our roads,” Gov. Granholm said in her State of the State message last week when she called on lawmakers to take action.

While raising taxes in a faltering economy is generally a bad idea, the state needs to leverage its taxes to get every federal dollar it can. Right now, Michigan is called a donor state — it sends more money to Washington than it receives. The state gets 92 percent of the 18 cents in federal tax paid on a gallon of gas. That will drop to 50 percent next year if the state can’t raise matching funds through an increased state gas tax.

Raising the gas tax would not put Michigan out of line with other states. More than half the states have higher fuel taxes than Michigan, including Wisconsin at 32 cents, Pennsylvania, 31 cents, Minnesota, 27 cents, and Ohio, 26 cents a gallon.

Michigan levies 19 cents a gallon for gas and 15 cents a gallon for diesel.

A proposal just introduced in the state House would increase the gas levy to 23 cents and the diesel to 21 cents this year and then to 27 cents for both in 2013, still keeping us within the range of neighboring states. This increase would guarantee enough money to get the federal match but would come nowhere near generating the $2 billion to $3 billion needed each year to keep roads in repair.

In addition, hybrid and electric cars are our future. Electric cars were the headliners at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last month, and when those cars hit the road beginning this fall that will mean even fewer drivers paying gasoline taxes.

Currently, Michigan uses a system of gasoline and diesel taxes combined with vehicle registration fees to fund road improvements. Basically, it’s a user tax, those people who use the roads are paying for them, including truckers and tourists.

If the state intends to keep having the users pay for the roads — and we agree with that concept — it’s going to have to look beyond gas taxes for funds. Registration fees may have to be increased and tolls placed on the most heavily used roads. Of course, toll roads will create more wear on secondary roads as drivers seek ways to avoid the fee.

The state also may have to reconsider its truck weight limits. Currently, the state allows trucks up to 164,000 pounds on the highway system, the heaviest of any state. However, the state requires a lower weight per axle so that weight is more evenly distributed, theoretically creating less damage to the road. Still, truck traffic pounds the roads. This might be an area for increased taxation. It is convenient to truck companies not to have to use more trucks like they would have to in other states and they should pay for that privilege.

Some sort of combination of these fees needs to be established to generate long term revenues. Perhaps a “weight per axle” tax or a “per tire” assessment would be a more effective way of financing road construction and upkeep. Of course, that doesn’t affect tourists or tourist buses.

The most recently introduced bill also would create a five-member Fuel Tax Restructuring Commission, which would have the responsibility of recommending long-term replacements for the current gas tax. Put a deadline on when the recommendations are due and you’ve got our support.

Establishing this formula shouldn’t be something lawmakers have to do every few years, but it is something they need to review to make sure roads are in good condition.

From May to December in 2009, lawmakers studied a 13-bill package to shore up our roads. Only a Republican sponsored bill to increase diesel taxes made it out of committee. But there has been no other activity.

Our lawmakers need to take action now. This most recently introduced bill offers both quick and long-term fixes. Our lame duck legislators should champion this bill and set the state up for increased employment through much needed road repair.

Good roads are a business development and retention tool.
Generating the funds to match federal dollars will put people to work. It will bring tourists to this state and move them around the state, which will put people to work.
An investment in jobs is money well spent.
An investment in protecting the safety of Michigan’s citizens is money well spent.
Contact your lawmaker today.

3.7.10. Grand Rapids Press: Two steps to fix Michigan's roads

Michigan’s roads are a mess, and they’re getting messier.

Two steps are needed to fix that problem.

First, and most urgently, the state needs a rapid on-ramp for new road funding. Unless Gov. Jennifer Granholm and lawmakers take that step soon, Michigan will begin losing federal transportation dollars beginning next year. Highway funds that should be paving roads in Grand Rapids will go to Indianapolis, Chicago and Cleveland instead.

Second, lawmakers have to find a longer-term solution to paying for roads, one that goes beyond the soon-to-be-obsolete gas tax.

Without both those measures, Michigan faces even harder economic times ahead. Highways and bridges are the basic building blocks of a strong state.

The road to prosperity is smoothly paved and built to last. The road to economic hell? It’s pocked with potholes, if it exists at all.

Road funding was the second topic in The Press’ Michigan 10.0 series, stories about major issues facing the state. Anyone who’s whiteknuckled her way along one of the state’s deteriorating highways, or faced an unexpected repair bill because of tooth-shattering breaks in the pavement, knows the problem.

We didn’t get here overnight. U.S. Census Bureau data show Michigan among the bottom 10 states in per-capita state and local road funding for more than 40 years. We are currently ranked 41st. According to the Reason Foundation’s 2007 Annual Report on the Performance of State Highway Systems, Michigan ranks eighth worst in overall performance 16th worst based on the number of deficient bridges fourth worst for rural interstate conditions eighth worst for urban interstate conditions 10th in the amount of additional road miles needed sixth in the total cost of road miles needed.

Not numbers to make Michigan proud.

Next year we will begin leaving matching federal transportation dollars in Washington. By 2014, the state will have sacrificed $2 billion in federal road funds. Michigan currently receives 92 cents back for every transportation dollar it sends to Washington. Without any change in current gas taxes, that number will drop to 50 cents.

Roads will continue to decay. Construction jobs will be lost. Motorists will pay more for car repairs. Businesses will look at Michigan’s crumbling infrastructure as a reason to invest elsewhere.

The last time the Legislature raised gas taxes was 13 years ago. The gas tax rate went from 15 cents a gallon to 19 cents a gallon. Diesel fuel stayed at 15 cents. The diesel disparity makes no sense, especially since Michigan continues to have the highest weight limits for trucks in the nation. That, together with a brutal freeze-thaw cycle, contributes to wear and tear.

Most lawmakers know a gas tax hike is necessary, but have resisted doing the right thing. During the past five years, some 13 bills have been introduced in the Legislature to fix the problem. None has found traction.
But more taxes won’t be enough. Gas tax revenue has been declining the last two years. Part of the reason is a bad economy. But part of the reason, a longer-term concern, is that gas-sipping vehicles are replacing old guzzlers. That problem will grow more acute as hybrids and electric vehicles become increasingly popular. Even increased gas taxes won’t provide the funding needed for the long haul.

Michigan is one of 24 states with no toll system for its roads. Tolls, like gas taxes, are a fairly pure form of user fee. You get what you pay for.

Increasingly sophisticated technology makes toll collection easier. Electronic transponders that can be used in multiple states allow drivers to whiz through toll collection points without having to chuck quarters at collection baskets. Another possible solution is GPS tracking that could charge drivers for miles driven. As gas use decreases, those kinds of reforms will be essential to maintaining the quality of Michigan roads.

But for now, gas taxes are the primary mechanism of road funding and they are depleted to the point that roads are falling apart, and crucial projects are being left on the drawing board.

Travelers to Michigan frequently comment on how they can tell immediately when they drive over the state line. The jarring sensation begins.

If lawmakers don’t find a quick infusion of cash and a more permanent method to fund roads, more and more businesses and workers will begin heading in the other direction: Onto the smooth pavement of neighboring states. That would be jarring, indeed, for Michigan.

5.10.10. Detroit Free Press: Failure to hike gas tax has steep price

For years, the Michigan Department of Transportation has warned legislators and the public about a coming transportation funding crisis.

Now that crisis, caused by the state's inability to raise enough gas tax money to leverage federal transportation dollars, is upon us.

Michigan will lose nearly $500 million in federal transportation dollars -- money Michigan taxpayers pay to the federal government -- if it doesn't find a way to raise an additional $84 million for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. That's a 4-to-1 match that will go for naught, and without a plan to raise transportation revenues, Michigan taxpayers will leave even more money on the table in ensuing years.

There is a reasonable plan to fix the problem, recently introduced in the state House. Legislators ought to approve it as soon as possible. To assure full federal funding for the next fiscal year, the bills need to be sent to the governor by mid-summer.

The package of bills would create overdue parity between the state's gas and diesel tax, raise vehicle registration fees, and increase the state gas tax by 4 cents a gallon this year and another 4 cents a gallon in 2013.

When fully implemented over five years, the plan would raise more than $1 billion a year for state transportation projects, including more than $100 million a year for transit.

Without assurances that the state can match federal dollars, however, MDOT must now plan to delay 100 pavement upgrades, covering 375 miles of roadway, and repairs to 575 bridges. In metro Detroit, delayed work includes the rebuilding of seven miles of I-96 in Wayne County, the resurfacing of 10 miles of I-94 in Macomb County, and the reconstruction of the M-59-Crooks Road interchange in Oakland County.

Letting federal dollars go to other states when Michigan sorely needs the money for transportation projects -- and the thousands of good-paying jobs they create -- is unconscionable.

5.13.10. Toledo Blade: An offer Michigan needs

IT MAY be hard to believe, especially for anyone who has driven on the Wolverine State's battered roads. But the Michigan Legislature seems likely to pass up $475 million in federal highway money that the state desperately needs and is there for the taking.

All the state has to do to get the money is come up with $84 million in matching funds by Sept. 30. Even in these difficult times, that should be a no-brainer.

A bipartisan bill before the state House would do that relatively painlessly, by boosting the state gasoline tax by four cents a gallon and the diesel tax by six cents. Similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate.
Yet, astoundingly, legislative leaders won't permit those bills to move out of committee. This is an election year, and some politicians fear anything that looks like raising taxes. State Rep. Wayne Schmidt, a Republican, said he opposes increasing fuel taxes because "we just can't place any more burden on the citizens of Michigan."
That may sound nice, but it is ridiculous and irresponsible. Michigan's roads are fast falling apart, and most motorists might be apt to find an axle-destroying pothole a bigger inconvenience than paying a little more for gas.

Kirk Steudle, director of the Michigan Department of Transportation, put it starkly: Without the federal funds, he says, "We aren't going to have funding for road and bridge repairs, much less for snow removal and salt." Michigan's gas tax has stayed the same for more than a decade. The per-gallon tax on diesel fuel was last raised in 1984.

State Rep. Richard Ball, a conservative Republican who supports the gas-tax hike, sensibly notes that "the people who don't want taxes of any kind … need to face reality. The roads and bridges are deteriorating every year from traffic and the freeze-and-thaw cycles, and the state needs funding to repair them."

Failing to snag almost half a billion dollars in federal highway funds would be close to a crime. Michigan voters need to let their elected leaders know that in no uncertain terms, before it's too late.

7.31.10. Detroit Free Press: Find money for roads projects now

Legislators must act now to raise transportation dollars or take Michigan down a road to ruin. The state faces losing half its road projects -- roughly $500 million next year alone -- over the next four years because it can't make the 20% local match needed to secure federal transportation dollars.

This is no idle threat by the Michigan Department of Transportation. In fact, the wheels are already rolling to accommodate $475 million in lost federal aid next year. In metro Detroit, for example, the Southeast Michigan C ouncil of Governments is adopting a four-year plan that will reduce spending on vital transportation projects by 63% over the next four years, from $3.8 billion to $1.4 billion. Projects dropped from metro Detroit's list include plans to rebuild seven miles of I-96 in Wayne County and resurface 10 miles of I-94 in Macomb County. Statewide, an estimated 6,000 good-paying construction jobs are at risk next year.

Legislators cannot stand by and let Michigan motorists lose hundreds of millions of dollars they send to Washington each year -- money that will now go to other states. One painful but reasonable solution, introduced in the state House, would create overdue parity between the state's gas and diesel taxes, raise vehicle registration fees, and increase the state gas tax by four cents a gallon this year and another four cents a gallon in 2013.

Taking $84 million from the state's general fund to get the local match is a temporary fix that doesn't address the long-term problem. Cutting the transportation budget further would reduce road maintenance, including snow plowing and pothole patching, to dangerous levels and close half of the state's 14 welcome centers when Michigan is trying to promote tourism.

Projects dropped from next year's transportation improvement programs can still be reinstated, but delays will add costs and complicate planning as the state tries to coordinate road work and projects to minimize driver inconvenience. MDOT normally starts bidding next year's projects in October.

Letting hundreds of millions of dollars for needed transportation projects -- and the thousands of jobs they create -- go to other states is a shameful legacy for any legislator to leave Michigan.

8.31.10. Lansing State Journal: Road impasse indicts Legislature's skill

The Michigan Legislature is taking its talent for farce to "Monty Python" levels. It remains a possibility that the Legislature will fail to come up with a reasonable method to raise about $85 million for road work, thereby unlocking $475 million in additional federal aid.

Do lawmakers take hovercraft to the Capitol? That's the only way they can possibly not realize that Michigan needs lots of money for its transportation grid. Oh, and the state could benefit from some road construction jobs, too.

This problem has lingered for months – time lawmakers preferred to spend campaigning rather than working at the Capitol.

Before taking most of the summer off, the House and Senate each enacted their own plan for the $85million. The Democratic House said it would use general fund money, regardless of the fact that the general fund is in deficit. Republican critics, such as Rep. Paul Opsommer of DeWitt, have feasted on that point.

The Republican Senate's plan is more specific, if no more appealing. The Senate voted to raid existing highway programs. Nearly $50 million would be stripped from maintenance and another $26 million would be pulled from a fund designed to help build roads tied to economic development projects.

Back in May, a huge business-labor coalition advocating for a better transportation policy rightly labeled the Senate's plan a "rob Peter to pay Paul" affair. They argued that one of the cuts actually could hamper efforts to, you guessed it, gain other federal matching dollars.

The Drive MI campaign has for years been trying to explain to the Legislature that Michigan's system of road funding is inadequate. Fuel tax revenue is falling, which makes it impossible for the state to maximize federal matching dollars. With economic conditions uncertain and fuel economy figures rising, fuel tax revenue won't rebound. The coalition, therefore, argues for new funding, such as with an increase in the fuel-tax rate.

With the deadline to approve a 2011 state budget just a month away, the Senate strategy seems to be to argue that the late hour means only its plan remains viable. Left unsaid, of course, is why legislators chose not to work on a compromise in, say, June.

Also left unsaid: What does Michigan do next year when it finds itself short of the dollars needed to acquire all available federal help?

Not even this Legislature is inept enough to get to Oct. 1 without the money. Lawmakers will throw something together and congratulate themselves as they return to the campaign trail.

Voters shouldn't let them off that easy.

9.8.10. Detroit News: Wanted: good roads

Backers of increased taxes for road repairs have been touting the results of the Aug. 3 primary election. From nearly two-thirds to more than three-fourths of local transportation millage requests were approved, depending on whether you're talking about millage continuations or increases.

Evidence from the primary, indicating that Michiganians do value good transportation, should help lawmakers buck up the courage to fix the road funding problem with a fuel tax increase recommended by a coalition of business, labor, public interest and local government leaders.

Voters on Aug. 3 approved 115 of 136 local government road repair millage requests (85 percent), according to the Michigan Transportation Team, a coalition of business and labor groups. Tax increases to maintain and improve local roads were approved on 29 of 48 local ballots (60 percent). The nonpartisan Center for Michigan says taxpayers' support for local road projects was exceeded only by their backing of tax requests for fire protection.

Of course, election results always are subject to partisan spin. Interpreting them is more of an art than a science. Voters base their decisions on such variables as cost, the desirability of specific projects that are being proposed and how much they trust their local officials to handle money wisely.

Still, politicians in Lansing now can gain some encouragement as they contemplate what must be done. Without an increase in road revenues for the state budget that will take effect Oct. 1, Michigan will fall $84 million short of what's needed to attract all of the federal transportation money available to the state. A number of important road and bridge repair projects will be shelved and that will be a significant setback for the state's sustained effort to improve its transportation system over the last several years. At stake is $475 million in federal matching money.

Michigan's gasoline tax is 19 cents per gallon. Its diesel fuel tax is 15 cents per gallon. What has been proposed is a gradual increase in the gasoline tax to 28 cents a gallon over the next three years, accompanied by a gradual boost of the diesel fuel tax to the same per-gallon total. Whether the tax should ultimately go that high is a separate question. But an increase is necessary to give this state a sustainable highway improvement program.

Some will note that Michigan also imposes its 6 cent per dollar sales tax on fuel, but most of the revenue collected from that is used for K-12 school aid.

Certainly, any increase in the gasoline tax should be accompanied by a change in the distribution formula of the tax revenues. Heavily-traveled highways in the Metro Detroit area have been shortchanged for years.
Tax hikes are unpleasant but sometimes necessary. It's important to remember these are user taxes, tied directly to fuel consumption by those driving to work or outings up north. Raising it to improve Michigan's roads is an investment in the state's future -- one that will pay off by attracting new businesses and more visitors.

9.21.10. Lansing State Journal: Hey lawmakers, the roads need work

The Legislature still hasn’t quite hammered out the method to free up about $85 million in state funds so Michigan can qualify for nearly $500 million in federal highway money.

What doesn’t need to be figured out is Michigan’s desperate need for such sums. The need is depressingly real, as affirmed this month by a report out of the Reason Foundation.

Each year, the foundation does its own analysis of state highways and, year after year, Michigan does poorly in it. So poorly, in fact, that the state's ranking for 2008 - 35th - still constitutes some measure of progress.
For a good part of the last decade, Michigan has been mired in the bottom 10 on highway performance and efficiency. In 2007, the state climbed to No. 31, but has now fallen back into the lowest third of the states. The good news, wink, is that Michigan's struggles are consistent.

Reason grades on 13 subcategories to develop its overall ranking. Michigan is considered to be in the 10 best states on only one: fatality rates. In 10 of the 13 subcategories, ranging from "capital and bridge disbursements" to "urban interstate condition," Michigan ranks No. 30 or lower.

By contrast, Indiana's overall ranking of No. 23 is based on sub-rankings that range from No. 1 - best - for rural arterials and interstates to No. 43 for "administrative disbursements."

In short, Michigan has plenty of room, in the foundation's eyes, to improve conditions and efficiencies.
"Drivers in California, Minnesota, Maryland, Michigan and Connecticut are stuck in the worst traffic. Over 65 percent of all urban interstates are congested in each of those five states. But nationally, the percentage of urban Interstates that are congested fell below 50 percent for the first time since 2000, when congestion standards were revised," the report states.

Hmm. So just as the rest of the nation is seeing some improvement on congestion, Michigan ranks among the worst.

Michigan also is one of the five states that contain about 60 percent of all the urban interstate miles in poor condition.

Finding a way to gain $475 million in federal highway aid might prove helpful in addressing that little need, right?

The current Legislature has distinguished itself for its undistinguished work on a wide variety of topics. But its consistent refusal to address basic reform of transportation funding will be a big burden for this state to overcome.

10.13.10. Spinal Column: State road funding dilemma

State lawmakers recently, at the last minute, managed to cobble together $84 million in matching funds so the state could secure about $475 million in federal road dollars. While we are pleased that Michigan roads will again benefit from the additional funds for the current fiscal year, we are less than thrilled with the lack of progress on determining a long-term, sustainable funding source for road construction in the state.

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) budget agreement for 2011 pieces together $84 million in matching funds from a myriad of sources, such as $12 million deferred from the State Transportation Economic Development Fund another $12.9 million from capital outlay building projects $11 million in "toll credits" that is a return on investment the state has made on its toll roads for the International Bridge in Sault Ste. Marie and the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron $5 million from administration cuts and $1 million from a cut in state welcome center operations. The state will also issue up to $40 million in short-term, low -interest bonds that are required to be repaid in one year.

One project in the lakes area — a bridge rehabilitation and replacement project off of I-96 at Kent Lake, Milford Road and over the Huron River pathway — is slated to be completed in 2011 as a result of the federal funds.
Various options for additional road funding have been bandied about — including increases to the state gasoline and diesel fuel tax, as well as hiked vehicle registration fees — in recent years to help repair Michigan's crumbling roads and bridges. All those proposals have floundered.

We are neither endorsing nor deriding any of those particular options at the moment. However, what we are calling for is an immediate, renewed, bipartisan focus on getting the funding situation squared away once and for all. The day after the Nov. 2 election, re-elected incumbents and newly-elected freshman lawmakers need to work together to find an amicable solution to the funding shortfall and make sure that Michigan gets its fair share of federal dollars in the future.

The scenario state lawmakers found themselves in this year will be even more exacerbated during the next round of budget negotiations when, in addition to the usual problems, legislators will also have to find a way to pay back the $40 million in bonds.

The 11th-hour finagling and quick fixes are nothing new when it comes to the state's budgetary process, particularly regarding road funding. We've seen it for the last several years. But we hope lawmakers from both sides of the aisle come to the table immediately after the Nov. 2 election to help make sure there are no more 11th hours — or at least less frequent ones — in the future when it comes to road funding.