LANSING, Mich. (WXYZ) — Roughly 4,000 to 5,000 road construction workers rallied on the lawn of the State Capitol to demand that lawmakers pass a $3 million road funding plan.
Watch Darren Cunningham's video report:
Dan Kroll is an operations manager with Toebe Construction. The company is working on the 696 project.
"Without that $3 billion... the outcome is what?" 7 News Detroit asked.
Kroll replied, "The outcome is less jobs that are coming out and more employees that ultimately get laid off and are out of work and are looking for work out of state. And the roads stay in the current condition."
Rob Coppersmith, with the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, which helped organize the event. He said lawmakers ought to consider new revenue sources.
Coppersmith said, "To our legislature's defense, they've inherited a problem."
When asked what makes this road funding dilemma different than in the past, he replied, "In years past, we've taken small bites at the funding apple, and what happened was we've had federal dollars that came in, the IHA dollars, and the governor's bonding program, so our industry has ramped up to meet those needs."
"And now that those funding sources are drying up, it's creating a dramatic hole in the funding levels we've been experiencing," Coppersmith said.
7 News Detroit spoke with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle on what it takes to accomplish a long-term, sustainable funding model.
Democratic state representative Alabas Farhat of Dearborn is the former minority vice chair of the House Appropriations Committee.
"We might have to do a combination of some cuts and some new revenue to make sure schools are held harmless and these road workers, these hard workers out here have jobs they look forward to without impacting other services we rely on," he said.
New revenue could mean higher taxes or new fees. However, Republican State Representative Jay DeBoyer said House Republicans proposed a plan that avoids that. But he said Democrats won't budge.
"I'm not sure (what the holdup is), but it's as if there won't be any movement if the Republicans don't agree to raising taxes," he said.
"I'm going to tell you right now, my opinion, we would have a budget passed in the state of Michigan right now if it wasn't for Republicans standing up saying, 'we can do it without raising taxes.' But the unfortunate thing is, the other side of the aisle demands a higher tax on you. I don't think it's necessary," DeBoyer said.
Farhat said, "I think the issue you have right now is there's too much gamesmanship. The egos are inflated in this town, and unfortunately, the working class in our state suffer as a result."
As the clock winds down to the October 1st budget deadline, workers aren't concerned about politics, just their paychecks.
Kroll said, "It's not a partisan issue to pass a bill to keep our roads good."
The House and Senate have 11 session days before the October 1st deadline.
