By Renee Prewitt
At a recent industry conference sponsored by Michigan Infrastructure Transportation Association (MITA), the focus was on rallying as many voices as possible to support the new $1.2B roads bill.
While oppositional voices are gearing up for battle, people on both sides of the issue agree: Michigan needs to fix its crumbling roads! http://www.saferoadsyes.com/prop-1/
The reasons to vote for Prop 1 are many:
· Our pothole riddled roads cannot be ignored any longer. Individual auto repairs are hitting a lot of us pretty hard in the pocket. In addition, deteriorating roads are not safe.
· The new gas tax will guarantee that every penny in state taxes we pay at the pump is guaranteed to go to transportation. We can put an end to the shell game played by the politicians in Lansing that shifts gas taxes to non-transportation purposes.
· Some of the funds will be used to help schools and local communities, which is not a bad thing if you live in a community that has schools. During the recession, most of these budgets were cut.
· Contrary to what some believe, the state doesn’t have the money to fix Michigan’s roads and bridges today without drastically cutting essential funding for our local communities, schools and public safety officers.
Tax increases are never popular, but in Michigan’s case, Prop 1 is necessary. If you don’t like the way Legislators handled this issue or handle your tax dollars in general, pledge to hold them accountable for all of their decisions regarding road funding in the future.
Don’t hold up the passage of this bill for a magic formula that may never materialize. Vote to fix the roads by voting Yes for Prop 1 on May 5.
If not now, when?
The Partnership for Diversity and Opportunity in Transportation (The Partnership) consists of unions, businesses, and non-profit representatives, working collaboratively to enhance economic development within neighborhoods—which are directly impacted by major public works, and transportation construction projects—by creating community benefits, business growth, job training and other opportunities.
MiRoad2Work.org is one of our programs, designed as a “one-stop shop” for information about apprenticeships and apprenticeship readiness services.
