By KEVIN WALKER

Michigan Correspondent

LANSING, Mich. — Several former state officials in Michigan are proposing a new, beefed-up road tax to meet a need they say has been lacking so far – the effort is from the Michigan Consensus Policy Project, a new group spearheaded by former state Senate majority leaders Ken Sikkema, a Republican, and Bob Emerson, a Democrat.

The Michigan legislature passed measures in 2015 to raise revenues for road repairs in the state by $600 million a year, which was signed by then-Gov. Rick Snyder, but this new group says it isn't nearly enough.

The Michigan Consensus Policy Project, along with nonprofit The Center for Michigan, has a plan to raise over $2.5 billion more to help fix the state’s roads. It would involve a nearly 50-cent per gallon gasoline tax increase spread out over nine years, in addition to what has already been done.

According to multiple published reports, the new taxes would be levied over time to lessen the impact on drivers. Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and former Lt. Gov. John Cherry, both Democrats, and former state House Speaker Paul Hillegonds, a Republican, are also involved in the effort.

Phil Power, The Center for Michigan's founder and chair, serves in an advisory capacity on the project. “These are heavy people and serious people,” he said. “The legislature would prefer to kick the can down the road rather than deal with the situation.”

He said he's talked with Sikkema and Emerson about this proposed project for the past year. He described this effort as a collaboration between the two organizations. Sikkema’s and Emerson's group does not have tax-exempt status, and since it “takes a long time to get tax-exempt status, with the IRS being so understaffed, I told them, ‘Why don't you just do it through us?’”

The effort is modeled on a proposal brought out three years ago by the Business Leaders for Michigan (BLM), which in turn modeled its plan on the state's earlier 21st Century Infrastructure Commission report.

“The overall grade of 'D' the American Society of Civil Engineers has given our state's infrastructure condition tells us what we already know – we have a critical problem,” said Doug Rothwell, BLM president and CEO, in a January 2016 statement accompanying its plan.

“The Governor's Commission findings document these needs in detail and identify best practices others have used to address similar challenges. We hope the policy guidelines BLM adopted (previously) give policymakers a roadmap for how to move these ideas into action.”

Given the difficulty the state's elected leaders have had passing new and large gas taxes, however, and Michigan voters' reluctance to pass the same or similar taxes, it's unclear how viable these proposals will be. In May 2015, voters roundly rejected a referendum on the state ballot that would have raised an additional $1.3 billion extra for the state's roads.

The state's Farm Bureau (MFB) was and still is in favor of a fix that would look at least something like the latest proposal. MFB's Andrew Vermeesch declined to comment specifically on this proposal; however, he reiterated the group’s previously stated position that Michigan farmers “recognize the importance of having a sound transportation system and understand that those involved in agriculture depend on good roads to move their products to and from the marketplace.

“Michigan Farm Bureau continues to support adequate funding for roads and bridges around the state, and believes that user fees from registration or fuel tax are the best way to fill our funding shortfalls.”