Last week, Governor Rick Snyder gave his State of the State address where he outlined the various accomplishments from 2012, as well as laid out his top priorities for 2013. His message and call to action for increased funding for Michigan’s transportation system couldn’t have been stronger. In fact, adequately funding our infrastructure in Michigan was the first priority he mentioned and was also the last thing he mentioned, bringing his point to how important it is to our state front and center. His plan is to raise additional revenues of $1.5 billion annually.
Specifically the Governor ended his message saying “If we step back for a minute and said we’re a family, we’re a family of 10 million people and we’re sitting around the kitchen table and we are saying ‘what’s right for our future?’ We sit there and say ‘we’ve got a chance to make payments for the next 10 years that would save us 1½ times what we are otherwise going to have to pay? And, we can save lives. And, we cannot stick our kids with a big bill’ This is a no brainer. This is common sense. Every family in Michigan would decide to do the road project…..So we can decide how long we want to argue about it, how political we want to make it, or we can just use some common sense and get it done.”
This is just the beginning, however, of a long road ahead of us. Legislative leaders have cautiously reacted to the Governor’s message and said that they will be spending time to debate this important topic. They all need to hear from you and your employees on how important funding will be to you, your family, your neighbors, your community and our entire state. We need to all come together and let those elected to office know that the public supports fixing Michigan’s infrastructure and that proper investment makes economic sense to our state and its citizens.
Media coverage and supportive editorials regarding Governor Snyder’s State of the State, with specific reference to road funding, have been comprehensive, statewide, and in a word: fantastic! MITA’s presence in the news, both print and broadcast, has been remarkable. A few key samples are listed below. Additional news can be found at www.justfixtheroads.com, a new website MITA developed to promote the issue of road funding to the media and general public.
Sample Articles:
The Detroit News: Road construction industry to launch ads backing higher gas taxes, vehicle fees
The Detroit Free Press: Sales tax hike for Michigan road repairs may go to voters in May
The Detroit News: Road improvement in Snyder’s sights
The Daily News and Argus: Snyder will offer plan to fix roads
Sample Broadcast:
January 18, 2013: Off the Record With Tim Skubick w/ Mike Nystrom as special guest
Sample Editorials:
Holland Sentinel Editorial: We need more money to fix Michigan roads
The Detroit News Editorial: Time to get Michigan moving
Lansing State Journal Editorial: Michigan needs better roads and bridges
