Legislator responds to governor’s State of the State address

State Rep. Jack O’Malley, chair of the House Transportation Committee, today said a plan from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to bond for road funding has been tried before – and that seeking billions of dollars in upcoming years won’t be any different except for the even larger burden it lays at the feet of taxpayers.

O’Malley cited a House Fiscal Agency report from January which found Michigan’s government still owed over $1 billion for road projects that were approved as far back as two decades ago. An estimated $199.6 million in debt service was slated to be paid just in the current fiscal year alone.

“Who ends up paying for that state government tab? Taxpayers – and almost always ones who are far removed from the decisions that were made at the time,” said O’Malley, of Lake Ann.  “It’s a nonsensical plan that will have far-reaching effects on our future generations. We’ve bonded almost $2.5 billion for roads since 1992 and we’re still behind the eight ball with some of the worst roads in the country. We need more effective solutions to deliver real repairs and real results.”

In his first year as a state legislator, O’Malley made stops at town hall events in roughly 20 communities across Michigan to listen to concerns about roads.

“Time and again, people have conveyed to me that the worst roads they drive on are from their driveway to the highway,” O’Malley said. “The bonding money can only be used on state-owned roads. So my concern is while those local roads throughout the state continue to stink and tear up people’s cars, I-696’s fog line will be getting a fresh coat of paint. This decision will have a much greater impact on people’s taxes than the roadways we use every day.”

Whitmer originally proposed a 45-cent per gallon gas tax increase within the state budget for the current fiscal year. That plan was wildly unpopular and rejected across the state, in part because several areas of Michigan would not have benefitted – even as those areas paid the same tax as everyone else.

After vetoing several funding plans within a budget that advanced through the House and Senate in an ill-fated attempt to get the Legislature to negotiate a gas tax increase of some form, O’Malley helped restore key measures that will fund essential services throughout northern Michigan, including schools and rural hospitals.