MITA staff and select members led a delegation of the Michigan Transportation Team to Washington to lobby for more federal road dollars. Currently, our state receives only 92 cents of every transportation dollar we send to the federal government and the Federal Highway Trust Fund is scheduled to be insolvent by 2009.
MDOT’s road and bridge program plummeted this year due to declining gas tax revenues and the end of the state’s bonding program, increasing the urgency of Michigan’s congressional delegation to solve the federal crisis. That was the message that the Michigan Transportation Team conveyed to our state’s congressional delegation on Tuesday.
Members of the team included representatives from the Michigan and Detroit Chambers of Commerce, Michigan Municipal League, County Road Association of Michigan, Operating Engineers, Carpenters, Michigan Association of Counties, MDOT and others.
MITA Helps Propel MBT Fix Through Legislature
MITA gave a major boost to the Materials Deduction fix by testifying before House Tax Policy Committee and meeting privately with legislative leadership, urging immediate passage.
Last week, the legislation passed unanimously through House committee. The bill is now pending on the House floor, where chamber leaders from each side discuss which legislation will move in the Senate in exchange for a House vote.
Tom Stover of Walter Toebe Construction also re-energized discussion of an MBT grandfather clause after offering compelling testimony to a special Senate MBT review committee in Saginaw on Friday. His testimony underscored the unfairness of adding additional tax liability on a job already bid, which included lower estimates on SBT liability. Committee members expressed some sympathy for the suggested change and will actively consider such language in upcoming MBT discussions.
Please contact Mike Nystrom at mikenystrom@mi-ita.com or Keith Ledbetter at keithledbetter@mi-ita.com or call the MITA office at 517-347-8336 with any questions or comments.
