Michigan lawmakers approved legislation in the early hours of Oct. 3 to provide $1.85 billion in new transportation revenue over the next four years. The bipartisan agreement, reached after months of negotiation, will swap the current sales tax at the pump with an equivalent gas tax increase, enact a new, 24 percent tax on the wholesale price of marijuana, and dedicate $500 million from the corporate income tax. The compromise also earmarks $7.65 million to study and pilot a road usage charge program.
The bill now goes to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) who said in a statement, “I ran for office in large part because I wanted to fix the damn roads. Over the past seven years, we’ve made historic progress, fixing 24,500 lane miles and 1,900 bridges. With this budget, we’re locking in a significant, bipartisan investment to fix state and local roads for decades to come, creating and protecting thousands of jobs in the process.”
Update: Gov. Whitmer signed the budget on Tuesday Oct. 7.