LANSING, Mich. (WWJ) -- Many Michiganders have voiced their opposition to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's proposed gas tax hike.
Among them is Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield-R, Levering, who called the 45-cents per gallon increase "too high a burden" on Michigan families.
"House Republicans will be drafting our own plan and will be hitting the drawing board to come up with a responsible plan that I believe the people of this state will support and also will not break the budget of our Michigan families," Chatfield said.
Whitmer proposed her first budget on Tuesday, with her plan to "fix the damn roads" coming in the form of a 45-cents per gallon increase on gasoline and diesel fuel that would be phased in over a year's time. Whitmer said the increase would raise $2.5 billion more annually for road and bridge work.
"I'll be very clear. I'm looking forward to partnering and negotiating with this governor," Chatfield said. "Unfortunately, the proposal that she put forward is a nonstarter for my caucus because the people in our district cannot afford it. So the gas tax will not be raised 45 cents."
Chatfield says many people across the state are "furious" about the gas tax proposal.
"There's many people in our state that are hardworking that are living paycheck to paycheck and they feel the government needs to be more responsible with the dollars that we have before we go back into their pockets," Chatfield said.
Whitmer calls the investment necessary to generate the more than two-billion dollars per year needed to truly make a dent in fixing Michigan's crumbling infrastructure.
