Senator Dayna Polehanki

Senator Dayna Polehanki

5 days ago

"Madam President, half a dozen construction workers came to my office yesterday wanting to talk about Michigan's roads, and I was struck by the great pride with which they talked about the careers that they built, making Michigan's roads smooth and safe for us to travel on.

We agreed that Michigan needs a sustainable plan to keep our roads fixed and fixed the right way so they last as long as possible.

When we talked about road funding, the guys I spoke with did not want to pay for roads by cutting money from our public schools.

I showed them how around 46% of Republican Speaker Matt Hall's road plan is paid for out of the School Aid Fund.

They didn't like that and agreed that we have to find a way to fund roads that isn't on the backs of Michigan's public schools, which are still underfunded by billions of dollars each year.

Speaker Hall's roads plan is a clever shell game involving holding schools harmless on the revenue side only to inflict serious harm on the appropriations side as it pushes $1.47 billion of higher ed appropriations currently paid for using the General Fund to the School Aid Fund.

Speaker Hall's budget proposal also strips $600 million of the MPSERS savings the Democrats gave back to schools.

So, in all, his plan guts school funding to the tune of over $2 billion.

So when you hear him say, "We will pay for roads with no new taxes," please know that he can claim that because his plan blows a $2 billion hole in school funding, but doesn't raise taxes.

It's classic smoke and mirrors.

I look forward to voting on a real roads plan that leaves our great public schools alone." ... See MoreSee Less

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