State Rep. Brad Slagh (R-Zeeland) has introduced a bill to make the state of Michigan more customer focused by requiring state-owned infrastructure to accept cash for all tolls.

A recent Michigan Department of Transportation press release announced that drivers crossing the Bluewater Bridge would no longer be able to pay cash at the toll plaza. The cash ban was a temporary safety measure during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, but now the department is making it a permanent policy.

Slagh said the change to eliminate cash is inconvenient for drivers and believes it should not be permanent.

“Many of our constituents do not use or even have debit or credit cards, so requiring their use to access state-owned infrastructure is misguided,” Slagh said. “Every cash note states, ‘This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private.’ Therefore, our state and local governments should accept it as a payment method.”

Slagh’s bill, named the “Acceptance of Cash in Tolling Act,” would require the acceptance of cash as a form of payment for any tolling on public infrastructure owned, operated or managed by the state, state transportation department or any other state or local government entity.