News

Actions

State reps host road funding town hall in Muskegon

Posted at 10:32 PM, May 13, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-13 22:33:03-04

MUSKEGON, Mich. -- Potholes and construction, it’s the time of the year when Michigan drivers are likely to be slowed down by both. Monday in Muskegon, two state representatives hosted a town hall to talk about road problems with constituents.

Road building is a discussion that shaped much of the race for governor last year and a subject of accelerated hearings being held by the state house transportation committee in Lansing.

House Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. Jack O’Malley and 91st District State Rep. Greg VanWoerkom outlined how road funding currently works in the state.

In the 2019 fiscal year, more than $4 billion is going to road repairs and construction.  Politicians on both sides say additional funding is necessary to keep up with growing needs.

"People need to realize we’ve increased funding by a couple billion dollars over the last seven or eight years, so there is money there and the process has begun," O'Malley said. "Do we need to continue to increase that? Yes, because there is still work to be done."

"How that gets distributed, what that top line is, that’s where we are going to have those conversations and negotiations," Rep. VanWoerkom added.

The road funding debate in Lansing over the next several weeks will focus on how to come up with additional funding and how that funding will be distributed.