The good news?
-Insurance reform has already been signed into law.
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
-The MCCA statutory rate will be reduced by 55% from $220 to $100 this summer for those who opt to retain full medical coverage in their auto policies and by 100% for those who opt for partial coverage!
-Prices at the pump have generally stayed below $3.00 per gallon and given the U.S.'s ability to now self-support its domestic fuel needs, the wild price hikes we saw in years' past should be less of a risk moving forward.
Conceptually, I still like the components of my proposal of last April.
Would I tweak anything? Perhaps. The personal income tax rate hike of 0.75% could be rolled back, say to 0.50%. Taxes on cigarettes, tobacco and yes, marijuana, can be raised higher than what I proposed. Regulatory fees could be raised in partial substitution of an income tax hike.
What about a "Plan B" ? I'm personally supportive of using bond issuances to fund the roads *if* the purpose of borrowing is limited to (a) an upfront road construction blitz, or (b) a short-term bridge to allow for the transition of road funding responsibilities to local and county jurisdictions. I do not support Governor Whitmer's silly suggestion of issuing billions in new bonds in perpetuity year after year as a recurring road funding source. That's a recipe for financial disaster. (Ask the City of Detroit!)
With regard to (a) above...
Common sense suggests long-term funding requirements (20+ years) to successfully maintain roads at a desired condition will be less if a higher percentage of roads are in good or excellent condition at the point of origin as opposed to fair or poor condition. In 2015, we did a backloaded funding increase. How well did that work out?
![Wink :blink](./images/smilies/wink.gif)
Personally, I think we need to do a frontloaded funding increase. Get as many roads in good or excellent condition as soon as possible. This is where a bond issuance could prove useful. Once you do that, they'll be less costly to maintain. Certainly makes more sense that putting a million band-aids on a crappy road for the next five or ten years only to then completely rebuild it. Do the rebuild sooner rather than later.
With regard to (b) above...
A major problem with road funding in Michigan is that Lansing has too much control over the purse strings. In most states, cities and counties have income taxes or sales taxes devoted specifically to road repair. We don't have that framework in place in Michigan. (Indiana and Ohio are two states that do have such a framework in place.) I would support any effort to Lansing to empower local communities to have a much greater say over road maintenance budgeting and funding mechanisms.