Gov. Whitmer Downplays Fuel Tax For Roads Proposition

2015potholes2-10
2015potholes2-10

She was elected on a promise to “fix the damn roads,” but how that will be done by Governor Whitmer is still up in the air. There have been several reports, notably from the Michigan News Network’s Tim Skubick, that the governor’s plan will include taking all the fuel tax money and putting it into road repairs. The problem with that is the School Aid Fund currently gets some of that revenue. During a stop in Grand Rapids this weekend, Whitmer admitted she was disturbed by a recent study by Michigan State University laying out how deep the education funding cuts have been since Proposal A was adopted in the mid-1990s.

“Potholes are not partisan. Our kids’ education, our schools, are not partisan,” the governor said. She added, however, when it comes to reports of plans to put all of the fuel tax into roads, “don’t believe anything you’ve read until I’m the one who says what the plan is.”

However, House Speaker Lee Chatfield confirmed that idea is on the table.

“It could be part of a bipartisan package, absolutely. I’ve talked about that for the last several months,” Chatfield said this weekend on the public TV program “Off The Record.”

Roads were the number one issue with voters in November, but school funding was right up there along with bringing down high auto insurance costs.