Road taxes shows differences in 42nd District race

The Argus has a story about the roads, gas taxes and the candidates for the 42nd District here in Livingston County.

Not surprisingly, I highly disagree with one of them regarding the gas tax. There's been a militant push among many in the media and political class supporting the gas tax going back to 2007. It has taken seven years and luckily it still had not increased over the 36-40 cents it is currently (depending on price at the pump).

Perlberg said the state must address two decades of neglect of Michigan’s roads.
Lawmakers continue to seek another $1.2 billion in annual road funding.
“I would achieve that with a combination of increased gas taxes and vehicle registration fees. That could be tempered in the future if we have sustained economic growth, which will produce additional dollars into our general fund,” he said at the recent forum.

I'll give Rich Perlberg credit for being out and open about his support for this. It's certainly not going to be a popular answer. Considering we have the 6th highest gas tax in the country, it shouldn't be a popular answer.

Lana Theis had this.

Brighton Township Treasurer Lana Theis, also a GOP contender for the House seat, said capturing 25 percent of annual state budget increases could fill the funding gap.Theis said her idea would have captured a total of roughly $1 billion between the 2010 and 2014 budget years.

“The problem is not that we’re not taking enough money. It’s that we’re not spending the money in the right place,” Theis said at the Daily Press & Argus candidate forum.“Until they prove to me that they’re spending all of the money that we take at the pump on the roads, I don’t even want to discuss a tax increase,” Theis added.

Nick Fiani had this

Nick Fiani, president of the Brighton Area Schools Board of Education and a GOP House candidate, said the state should strictly dedicate gas taxes, the state’s sales tax on gas, and vehicle registration fees to roads.
Dedicating the sales tax on gasoline to roads would involve voter approval because it would require a constitutional amendment. Without increasing the sales tax, it also would mean schools and local governments would lose funding they currently rely on.
Fiani said road funding could also receive a boost through repealing Michigan’s prevailing-wage law on public construction projects and through more competitive bidding on projects.
He said his overall plan would create between $750 million and nearly $1 billion each year in extra road funding.
“There is absolutely no need to raise taxes to fix Michigan roads. If the state and the government would utilize the proper and appropriate streams of revenue toward the appropriate expenditures, a solution could be (found),” he said.

Dale Rogers had this

GOP House candidate Dale Rogers, a Novi High School vocational teacher, called for a bipartisan commission to review state spending.
Rogers said a starting point could be axing tax-incentive programs.
For the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, the state’s economic development incentives will be funded at $130 million, and the state’s filmmaking incentives at $50 million, according to state figures.
If the appropriated $180 million in incentives went to roads, that would still be $1.02 billion short of Snyder’s figure.
Most of the business incentives are scheduled to expire, but with program dollars intended to fill a revenue gap created by ending the personal-property tax on business equipment.
Rogers said the panel also could consider slashing a portion of state Department of Corrections funding, set at $2.04 billion for 2015.

I also saw this quote which tells me many of the same problems at the heart of every budget issue is still around.  

But only about $10 billion of next year’s $52 billion budget is state money. The remaining $42 billion is federal money, none of which can be redirected for other uses, explained David Murray, Snyder’s deputy press secretary.Murray said state general fund revenue increased about $1.1 billion from 2012 to next year’s budget, however.

I have a hard time believing that the $42 billion is federal money. He's confusing "state money" with earmarked money.  Some money is earmarked due to federal strings attached (matching funds, etc) and some is due to the State Constitution provision. It would take an amendment to change some of those. It's also something that needs to be looked at. If 82% of the budget can't be touched, than the legislature and governor has a real hard time doing its job properly. Until more than 8-10 billion can be adjusted, we'll always have budgetary problems in this state.  It's a structural issue that goes back to before Engler. Open up the whole damn thing and fix it. Don't give us another tax.

Updates

It's been a busy month with work, so I haven't had the time to update this site as much. A few things in the news.

Yesterday was the State of the State address. Here's the speech

Locally, the Argus is stirring up stuff with Brighton Schools again over the board's choice for president. Nick Fiani.

A school board member with the least amount of experience among his peers will lead the Brighton Area Schools Board of Education.
The board, on a 5-2 vote, selected Nick Fiani to serve as president at its Monday meeting. Outgoing Vice President Bill Anderson and Beth Minert voted no.
Despite serving only a year on the board, Fiani, 26, said he’s ready.
“I think I’m experienced and have the knowledge I need to lead the board and district,” Fiani said.
Fiani said the district has become more fiscally responsible, and he said this can be “attributed to my presence on the board.”

Many people don't know this, but Brighton Schools was in very real danger of  getting an emergency manager. They had deficits in a row and were not fixing the problem in an adequate manner. It took newer board members like Nick Fiani and John Conely along with Superintendent Greg Gray to stop that from happening. Some progress is being made, and they are starting to work their way out of danger. There's a lot of work still to be done. The MEA can't stand Nick Fiani and have a target on his back. Nick's got a tough job ahead of him, but he's a smart guy who is confident, able to adapt, and is very good with numbers.

Also, within the party, the campaign between Brian Calley and Wes Nakagiri is heating up. Both sides have been calling current precinct delegates and recruiting people to vote for their people to go to state convention to vote for their candidate. The state convention that elects Lt Gov will be after the August primary, where precinct delegates are elected. I'm concerned about the unintended consequences and fallout from this race from a party related standpoint. It has nothing to do with Wes and Brian themselves, nor their direct campaigns. They are running for office and have campaigns to run. The best chance they have is by influencing the voting pool, and that's what they are doing. If I was running for Lt Governor, AG, Secretary of State, and University Trustee, I'd be doing the same thing Wes and Brian's people are doing.

The concern I have is the party leadership fallout. Precinct delegates elect 1/2 of the executive committee for a county party, and the state delegates that elect district and state party leadership, as well as (eventually) RNC Committee members. I have seen some very cliquish sounding speeches (from a resident of another country, not Livingston) recently regarding party leadership talk.When I hear talk about "takeovers" and "purges", I have a real problem with that. In my experience 99% of the "takeover" pushers are also incompetents that do not know what they are doing, regardless of intention. The precinct delegates I hope win are those who are hard working and thoughtful independent thinkers who use facts and make independent decisions instead of falling into clique thinking that will get us in major trouble. These votes will affect us long after the Lt Governor race is decided. These will affect the structure going into 2014, a rare open seat for President.

 As far as Wes Nakagiri vs Brian Calley, I am staying neutral in this. Publicly and privately. I personally haven't made my decision outside of voting for the hardest working candidate that has the least amount of shenanigans from their camp. Run your election, and tell me why you should get my vote. Tell me how you would help the ticket send Mark Schauer back to Battle Creek. Schauer has a 14 year record. It's bad. He's the type that will talk moderate and vote far leftist because he does what he's told by leadership. Cap and Trade. Banning CPL in cars. Obamacare. Partial Birth Abortion. Public funding for abortions. Granholm's tax increases. Anybody but Schauer.