North Michigan News

State Representative Ken Borton has expressed his support for a new plan proposed by House Republicans to address Michigan's road infrastructure issues. The proposal, outlined in House Bills 4180 through 4187, aims to allocate an additional $3.1 billion annually towards repairing the state's deteriorating roads without increasing taxes.

The funding strategy includes redirecting $1.1 billion from corporate welfare and similar earmarks, generating $600 million from increased revenue due to higher tax returns, cutting $500 million in unnecessary spending, and dedicating $945 million from taxes paid at the pump directly to road maintenance.

"Everywhere you look inside state government, there are places to cut," stated Borton, R-Gaylord. "In fact, if you put the number of unnecessary line items in our budget next to the number of potholes in Michigan, they’d both be in the hundreds of thousands. I’m proud to support the House Republican plan to fix our roads without raising taxes. We need to get potholes filled without reaching back into taxpayer pockets."

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has also presented her own plan for road improvements, which involves a significant tax increase. Borton acknowledged the governor's willingness to negotiate with House Republicans but emphasized that taxpayers should not bear the primary responsibility for funding road repairs.

The House Republican Roads plan is currently under review by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.