State Rep. Greg Alexander today voted for plans that will fix local roads without raising taxes or taking on additional debt.

The legislation – House Bills 4180-87 and 4230 – would annually put over $3 billion toward roads, including $2.5 billion to local roads. Alexander said the added resources will be critical for locals who have delayed projects or been forced to shift money away from other critical services to fund repairs.

“For years, our local infrastructure people use every day to run to the store or take their kids to school has been neglected,” said Alexander, of Carsonville. “These resources that will go to local and county road agencies will ensure more potholes get filled, more streets get re-surfaced, and communities and families across our area see a difference in the state of their roads.

“This has been a priority for people for a long time, and House Republicans are leading the way with a responsible plan to address it.”

The roads plan would annually rededicate $2.2 billion from the Corporate Income Tax (CIT) to roads, shifting $220 million to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), $1.1 billion to counties, and $880 million to cities and villages. The plan would also reallocate hundreds of millions of dollars from expiring or inefficient spending programs.

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. The legislation 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.

Alexander specifically noted a bill within the legislative package that creates the Neighborhood Roads Fund, which would distribute money to local municipalities based on their number of various road miles, not on the ability to generate matching funds.

“The governor’s plan to get more money to roads would come with additional fees and taxes,” Alexander said. “Her budget plan for the next fiscal year is over $80 billion, and Democrats had a $9 billion surplus to start last term. We don’t need to go back to taxpayers for more money to fix local roads. We need to prioritize our local roads with responsible budgeting.”