Bills state Reps. Jamie Thompson and Rylee Linting have sponsored within a plan that will bring critical road funding to Wayne and Monroe counties were advanced on Wednesday by the Michigan House.

The legislation – House Bills 4180-87 and 4230 – is the first major road funding plan in more than a decade. It would annually put over $3 billion toward roads, including $2.5 billion to local roads. The additional resources come without increasing taxes or saddling the state with additional debt and will be critical for communities and counties who have been forced to delay projects or shift money away from other critical services to fund repairs.

“This plan understands the priorities of people we represent in our Downriver community,” said Linting, of Grosse Ile. “State government should be focused on delivering dependable local infrastructure and giving people a good return on their tax dollars. Our local roads are crumbling while state budget plans have been soaring. These proposals direct resources to where they should be going and where they’ll be most efficient.”

“Good roads, smart spending and addressing people’s priorities. That’s what this plan is all about,” said Thompson, of Brownstown. “Our plans for local roads don’t shake down taxpayers for more of their hard-earned money and don’t strap our children and grandchildren with debt like the governor did for highways. The governor has said for seven years that she’s going to fix the roads, but from driveway to highway in our communities we are still seeing roads that are in terrible shape. We are still hearing from road agencies who do not have the resources to make repairs to roads that need it, and our constituents have been waiting to see results. These are serious reforms that will make a serious impact in the places we call home.”

The roads plan would rededicate $2.2 billion from the Corporate Income Tax (CIT) to roads, shifting $220 million to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and $1.98 billion to local road agencies each year. The plan would also reallocate hundreds of millions of dollars from expiring or inefficient spending programs to roads.

The bills remove the sales tax on fuel and replace it with a fair, fixed motor fuel tax, securing nearly another $1 billion for roads without raising taxes. Linting’s bill, House Bill 4185, will hold school funding harmless by dedicating $755 million in sales tax revenue to account for the decrease in what is normally allocated through gasoline sales tax.

With the new funding, the city of Taylor would see an increase of almost $12 million for roads. The city of Wyandotte would see an increase of nearly $4.7 million.

The bills, which received bipartisan support, now advance to the Senate for consideration.

PHOTO INFORMATION: State Rep. Rylee Linting speaks on a House Republican road funding plan during House session on Wednesday, March 19 at the state Capitol.