Report: Whitmer Open To Shifting Gas Tax To Roads

govwhitmerinauguration2-3
govwhitmerinauguration2-3

Michigan drivers pay a 6% sales tax on gas, but none of that money goes to road repairs. Instead, it goes to school districts, local governments and mass transit. However, Governor Gretchen Whitmer may be ready to support a plan directing that money to fix state roads.

Michigan News Network Lansing Bureau Chief Tim Skubick reports the governor might unveil the proposal during her first State of the State address on February 5. However, he says it comes with a challenge.

“She and Republicans in the Legislature would have to find a way to replace the revenue that the schools would lose,” explains Skubick. “That’s why the schools are very, very concerned about this plan. Nobody will confirm she’s going to endorse it, but there are strong indications that she will embrace it as part of an overall road-fix package to be unveiled in her State of the State.”

The gas sales tax amounts to just over $675 million a year.