This article originally appeared in WWMT. Read more here.
LANSING, Mich. — On Monday, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced a new plan to funnel more money into fixing the state’s aging infrastructure.
The $3 billion plan, MI Road Ahead, aims to get more funding to fix the roads. It comes after Whitmer announced a budget last week to fund a road project.
“Right now, support any increases in revenue to our transportation network, especially as significant as $3 billion,” said Lance Binoniemi, the vice president of government affairs for the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association (MITA).
Binoniemi tells CBS News Detroit that studies from his MITA have found that Michigan would need about $4 billion to really tackle decrepit roads.
He says the governor’s plan, “does come close to that number.”
“We are deteriorating at a rate that we can’t maintain. That $3 billion a year will make sure that we stop doing that, Binoniemi said.
An outline of the plan released by Whitmer’s office on Monday would pull revenue from different sources, like changing where the money from our current gas tax goes and possibly changing Michigan’s corporate income tax. The Michigan Chamber of Commerce is already opposing this move.
“We do have significant concerns out of the gate,” said Wendy Block the senior vice president of business advocacy with the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. “The rate is not yet disclosed, but we believe that they’re eyeing somewhere between 7.5% to 8%, up from our current 6%. While we at the Michigan Chamber have long been proponents of finding new revenue sources for the roads, we think the first goal of government needs to be to look within, to look at Michigan’s current spending.”
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The governor’s plan comes days after Michigan House Republicans announced their own plan for road funding.
“The problem is, a lot of that really seems to be the House Republican plan. I don’t think teachers like it when their students copy each other’s homework. I don’t know if the people of Michigan really like that, either,” said state Rep. Joe Aragona, R-Clinton Township.
One Democratic lawmaker said he foresees a discussion over the two plans and officials meeting in the middle.
“Honestly, I think it’s time to get stuff done. We have been struggling to maintain our local roads for far too long, and it’s time that we come to a solution, working together to make things happen,” said state Rep. Jason Morgan, D-Ann Arbor.