Senator Patrick Colbeck Doesn't Understand Why The Governor Wouldn't Sign Bill

Patrick Colbeck, who is seeking the Republican nomination for Michigan Governor, has expressed regret over Governor Rick Synder's decision to veto a bill that would promote life.

Senate Bill 163 authorized the creation of a "Choose Life" fundraising license plate that drivers could purchase. The state offers a number of fundraising license plates, including ones that support universities and wildlife habitat.

"I find the Governor's veto of a 'Choose Life' license plate to be disgraceful and sad because it would have helped a number of people faced with very real choices of life or death, choices that are not political, " said Colbeck

This is the fourth time Colbeck, who serves as state senator for Michigan's 7th district, has introduced a bill to create a 'Choose Life' license plate. This is the first time a bill has gotten as far as the Governor's desk. SB 163 had bi-partisan support of 25 Senators and 65 Representatives.

If the Governor did have personal issues with the bill, he had several options besides a veto. He could have let the bill become law without his signature, which happened naturally at 2pm Monday, July 3, or he could have let Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley sign it.

A fundraising license plate would have raised money to support organizations for people such as mothers with unplanned pregnancies and considering an abortion or veterans who are despondent and may want to take their own life.

"I appreciated the support I had for this bill from Michigan Right to Life and Attorney General Bill Schuette," said Colbeck.

This is the second bill in a row sponsored by Senator Colbeck that Governor Snyder has vetoed.

Colbeck filed paper work in May to run for Michigan Governor. Governor Snyder's term ends in 2018.

"If I'm fortunate enough to be elected Governor, I would be honored to have this bill be the first one I sign into law," said Colbeck.

Michigan House Passes Road Tax Increase And Removes Road Work Guarantees

A new plan to improve Michigan roads with higher fuel taxes

and vehicle registration fees was approved by the state

House.

The Republican-controlled House voted late Wednesday night along party lines after road-funding talks among legislative leaders and Gov. Rick Snyder broke down last week. The governor says he has "some concerns" with the new legislation.

The House bills would raise $1.2 billion a year to bring roads up to par, but not until the 2020-21 fiscal year.

The 19-cents-a-gallon state gasoline tax would be increased by 3.3 cents in 2018. The 15-cent diesel tax would rise by 7.3 cents in 2017.

License plate fees would increase by 40 percent starting in October 2016.  The increase will cost drivers an average of $100 more per vehicle.

And according to State Senator Patrick Colbeck he states

Patrick Colbeck

“Last night, the House voted on a series of bills to fix our roads. The bills feature a net $400M tax increase and reprioritization of $800M in existing revenue for a total increment of $1.2B for our roads. Gas taxes are increased by 3.3 cents/gallon. Diesel taxes are increased by 7.3 cents/gallon. Registration fees are increased for passenger vehicles and trucks. The bills remove provisions of SB 111 embedded within HB 4613 which would have enabled us to enforce warranty provisions. The suite of bills also featured enhanced Homestead Property Tax Credits to help citizens adversely impacted by the decrease in these credits back in 2011

Just As We Thought The Gas Tax Increase Isn't For The Roads

You can blame Obamacare and Governor Rick Snyder for our roads not being repaired.

Senator Patrick Colbeck

Governor Snyder stepped into it, as they say, when he pushed through the Medicaid Expansion also known on the radio at the Healthy Michigan Plan. 

By offering free medical care to some it is we the taxpayers that have to pay for it.   This is nothing more than distribution of wealth and fits the classic definition of socialism.

To now pay for this medicaid expansion Governor Rick Snyder is pushing for a gas tax increase.  The voters in May of this year shot down a tax increase by an overwhelming margin of 80%.

State Senator Patrick Colbeck, who has a plan to fix our roads without raising our taxes confirmed this today in a facebook post of his:

"Many of you are wondering why it is so difficult to pass legislation that would fix our roads. Simple answer...some people insist upon it being about much more than roads. According to Gongwer News Service (not yet addressed in SE MI papers), one of the sticking points in the most recent negotiations revolved around increasing the Health Insurance Claims Assessment (HICA) tax. "What does HICA have to do with roads" you say? HICA revenue goes to pay the state portion of Medicaid payments. OK...what does Medicaid have to do with roads?

The short answer is that some people in state government are relying upon a tax increase to backfill gaps in Medicaid funding with the same money that the House and Senate plans have already earmarked for roads. This problem becomes exacerbated in 2017 due to the passage of Medicaid Expansion (i.e. Section 2001 of HR 3590 otherwise known as Obamacare). In 2017, the Federal government will no longer provide 100% of the funding for the expanded Medicaid population.

So...if you are wondering why it is so difficult to fix our roads, look no further than Medicaid Expansion. The good news is that I have offered solutions to both Medicaid Expansion and our Roads that protect you from tax increases."

Another Lansing legislator State House Republican Peter Lucido of Shelby Township also has a plan to fix our roads without raising taxes.  

Between these two plans we should be able to fix our roads.  As for the Medicaid expansion problem?  That is something Governor Rick Snyder will have to figure out.  That plan was forced upon the people of Michigan after it failed on the first vote.  And now that the people of Michigan are seeing that the Medicaid Expansion is holding up our roads being repaired, I would have to believe it is even less popular than it was two years ago. 

$50 Wal-Mart Gift Cards Being Handed Out On TaxPayer Expense To Join Obamacare

Is your state handing out $50 Wal-Mart Gift cards so that people join Obamacare?

"Did you know that the State of Michigan is providing $50 Wal-Mart Gift Cards to our 600,000 Medicaid Expansion

Senator Patrick Colbeck

enrollees as an "incentive" to complete their mandatory "healthcare paperwork"? In other words, we are incentivizing "dependence" upon government...to the tune of $30M taxpayer dollars. This may yield additional insights into why I am such an outspoken opponent to Obamacare and Medicaid Expansion (Section 2001 of Obamacare)."  Michigan State Senator - Patrick Colbeck

In the meantime the State of Michigan Senate passed a resolution calling for a 15 Cent increase per gallon of gas at the pump as we do not have money for our roads.

Is A Gas Tax Increase Really Necessary??

Michigan's road debate continues.

By Senator Patrick Colbeck

Proponents of tax increases have an extremely strong lobbying base. They have incessantly pushed a false narrative that our roads cannot be fixed without tax increases, despite our citizens already being subject to the fifth highest gas taxes in the country. After having served as vice chairman of the Senate Transportation Subcommittee on Appropriations for the past four years, I happen to have a different opinion.

Let me be clear. I want to fix the roads as much as anyone. The key difference is that I know that we can do so without having to dig deeper into the pockets of families struggling to make ends meet.

Here are some simple facts for Michiganians to consider. When I started my service in the Legislature four years ago, our state budget was $46.8 billion. The last budget that we enacted for FY2014-2015 was $53.1 billion. That is an increase of $6.3 billion — $1.1 billion of that went toward education; $840 million has already gone toward our roads. That leaves $4.3 billion unaccounted for in our list of budget priorities.

What are the odds that folks would find most, if not all, of the spending items associated with this $4.3 billion less important than fixing our roads? Would we raise taxes to pay for film incentives? Would we raise taxes to pay for other corporate incentive packages? The funds for these programs could be used for roads, yet we are being sold a narrative that we need a tax increase to pay for our roads. Why not push the tax increase discussion onto these programs instead?

Compound these observations with the fact that a significant portion of our transportation budget does not go towards fixing our roads. Did you know that 10 percent of the taxes collected under the most recent Senate-passed bill to increase gas taxes would go toward rail and mass-transit programs? Diverting funds to rail and mass transit will not fix a single pothole. Funny, I don't recall trains and busses being part of the "Just fix the roads" propaganda blitz. Do you?

Against this backdrop, I maintain that we do not get the bang for the road funding buck that we deserve in Michigan. In earlier op-eds, I cited findings from the 20th Annual Highway Report compiled by the Reason Foundation. It stated that Michigan spends 53 percent more per mile than the national average on our roads. Their latest study shows that Michigan still spends 27 percent more per mile than the national average and 7 percent more per lane-mile than the national average. Despite this, our road conditions have consistently ranked 40th or worse.

When I cite such figures, I am assaulted by proponents of increased taxes, who point out the influence of our winter climate on our poor road conditions.

Minnesota, not exactly a winter getaway for warm weather enthusiasts, spends 18 percent less per mile than the national average, yet has higher rural road quality.

Truck weights are also cited as a major contributor to the poor quality of our roads. I'm all for lowering truck weights. In fact, the Senate has considered legislation to do just that, but as an engineer I am bothered by the lack of fundamental engineering data on this topic. Despite years of inquiries, I have yet to find a specification that connects the dots between how long our roads should last under a given load profile and the road designs that we build. It is very difficult to analyze the impact of truck weights and longer life road designs without this data.

The good news is, we agree that we need to fix our roads. The bad news is that there are still too many folks who choose to make their point by misrepresenting the views of folks like me who do not believe that we need to raise taxes. Proponents of tax increases have poured significant time and money into making us believe that tax increases are the only "rational" solution to our road woes. Meanwhile, Michiganians pour out the fruits of their labor towards satisfying government's insatiable appetite for more of their hard-earned money.

Tax increases should always be the last option considered. All too often, though, they are the first. It is time we changed our priorities.

State Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton, represents the 7th District.