Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will meet with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Monday, marking his first trip to the nation's capital since taking office.
Michigan is facing a looming nearly 50 percent cut in its road construction budget in 2012, taking with it scores of projects and thousands of jobs in a state that relies heavily on its freeways.
A spokesman for Snyder, Ryan Kazmirzack, confirmed the governor's meeting. A spokeswoman for LaHood declined to comment on the meeting.
In November, the Michigan Department of Transportation, citing a freefall in gas tax revenue over the last decade, projected its repair budget for 2012 to be $626 million, compared to the $1.4 billion spent in 2010, and about half the $1.2 billion it will spend this year"Until the 2011 budget, we were never faced with actually leaving federal money on the table," MDOT spokesman Bill Shreck told The News in November.
MDOT predicted funding losses of $120 million to $160 million per year from 2012 to 2015. If it can't come up with matching funds, it could mean the loss of $575 million to $800 million in federal funds for each of those years.
"That will mean not fixing 600 bridges, the cancellation/postponement of 180 road projects covering 385 miles of roads. Plus, we will cancel maintenance projects slated for more than 600 miles of roads," Shreck said in November. "In 2011, our budget will provide 15,800 construction jobs; but in 2012, that will drop to under 8,000 every year until at least 2015."
In a Detroit News interview last month, the governor-elect said he wanted the federal government to return more dollars for transportation He said the issue of federal road dollars was a top priority in Washington.
"We've historically been a donor state," Snyder said, saying Michigan gets 92 cents of every $1 in road tax money raised. "Can't we just have our dollar back?"
http://www.detnews.com/article/20110107/AUTO01/101070436/1361/Snyder-to-meet-LaHood-in-DC-on-transportation-projects