The result is in for the May 5th, 2015 Michigan vote on the controversial Proposal 1. The purpose of the vote was to make a decision on the proposal aimed to raise money to fix the dangerous Michigan roads and the potholes which commonly lead to Michigan car accidents. The Proposal, according to the House Fiscal Agency, included one constitutional amendment and 10 statutes. All in all, the proposal, if passed would have created $1.9 billion dollars once fully implemented in the 2017-2018 fiscal year. Specifically, this would equate to $116.1 million for public transportation, $200 million for the School Aid Fund, $111.1 million for cities, and $173 million for Michigan’s General Fund.
Prior to the election, a poll conducted by Lansing’s EPIC-MRA on January 29, 2015 discovered that 46% of the people they surveyed would vote “yes” on Proposal 1 and 41% would vote “no”. Though after hearing more details on the Proposal, 47% said “yes” and only 38% said “no”. This change may be attributed to the fact that Michiganders are big proponents of road improvement. Most policy makers and media outlets thought in the same vein that Michigan voters would vote “yes” on anything that would fix Michigan roads. Alas, the terrible Michigan roads will not see any change due to Proposal 1.
However, citizens and drivers in Michigan shouldn’t be disappointed yet. There are still several other plans that may go into effect in Proposal 1’s place. The Michigan legislature is back to the drawing board.
One such alternative plan was the previously proposed by Governor Snyder Plan. Governor Snyder’s plan was actually already a part of Proposal 1. In 2013, Snyder proposed raising fuel taxes and vehicle registration taxes in an effort to create an extra $1.2 billion for road funding. Specifically, the 19 cent regular fuel and 15 cent diesel fuel tax were to be raised to 33 cents a gallon and Michigan vehicle registration fees for cars and light trucks was to be raised by 60%. It seems that any plans to raise money, including Snyder’s plan, require some kind of tax raise. So, while Michigan voters didn't vote for all of the provisions of Proposal 1, perhaps they will be willing to support a yet to be determined alternative to fix the state of Michigan roadways.
The Michigan Law Firm, PLLC will continue to monitor the situation regarding Michigan road repair funding as it affects Michigan drivers and their safety on the road. Our auto accident attorneys are always available at 844.4MI.FIRM to speak to you regarding Michigan road funding and incidents regarding injury accidents.