With No Plan B, New Poll Finds Michigan’s Road-Funding Proposal in Trouble
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has been hauling chunks of concrete around his state in advance of the Proposal 1 vote. GovSnyder / YouTube
Gov. Rick Snyder has been using chunks of concrete as props to make his case for voters to support Proposal 1. He has a lot of convincing to do, still.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has said that if voters don’t approve an upcoming special statewide ballot initiative that would raise the state’s sales tax to fund $1.3 billion in road improvements, “there isn’t a good Plan B.”
So it’s not surprising that the governor and his allies on the road-funding proposal have been trying to rally support in advance of the vote, scheduled for May 5.
Nearly 100 groups like the Detroit Regional Chamber, the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, Michigan Sheriffs’ Association, Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, Consumers Energy and Southwest Michigan first have thrown their support behind Proposal 1, which would raise the state’s sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent while eliminating the state’s sales tax on gasoline.
The majority of the funds raised would go to repair roads and bridges with smaller portions going to help fund public schools and local government revenue sharing.
Nobody is denying that Michigan’s roads are in awful shape. Beyond the potholes and rough patches that motorists regularly encounter around the state, Michigan’s bridges are deteriorating, too, and there are concerns about chunks of concrete falling onto vehicles.
As MLive.com recently reported:
Snyder is traveling the state with buckets of broken concrete, holding up jagged chunks for cameras and passing them out as no-value keepsakes while stumping for Proposal 1.
But with the Proposal 1 vote a month away, it looks like the state will have to turn to a Plan B, whatever that might be.
A new poll by Lansing-based EPIC-MRA shows that Proposal 1 is in trouble and would be easily defeated if the election were held today.
The poll, which the Detroit Free Press reported “represents a huge pothole for Gov. Rick Snyder and other proponents of the bill,” found that 66 percent of respondents planned to vote no.
"I would be amazed if they were able to turn things around at this point," EPIC-MRA President Bernie Porn told the Free Press. "After hearing the ballot language and how people responded, there's a real distrust of the government."
Some of Snyder’s biggest opponents on Proposal 1 are from some of his fellow Republicans who have previously rebuffed the governor on past legislative attempts to fix road funding.
If Proposal 1 fails, there are a lot of questions of “what’s next?” Michigan political columnist Jack Lessenberry wrote in February: “If it does fail, this may have far-reaching consequences: Once voters turn down raising taxes for the roads, it may become virtually impossible to get the legislature to do so.”
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