The new $2 billion road funding solution negotiated by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer won’t end up getting the money to where it is needed to fix the local roads, according to a new Michigan Citizens Research Council (CRC) report.

CRC President Eric Lupher said the system through the Michigan Transportation Fund, which requires matches for certain projects, exists alongside the new funding through the Neighborhood Roads Fund, which doesn’t require a match and will end up being confusing for road commissions and township officials.

“It just speaks to the system is becoming more broke by doing things the way they have, not better,” Lupher said.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and several Democratic legislators put up opposing comments as the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) held a well-attended virtual hearing about speeding up approvals for DTE to provide electrical service to a proposed Washtenaw County data center.

Whitmer sent a comment to the MPSC that joined the chorus of construction unions in support of the OpenAI Stargate project from Oracle that would support more than 2,500 jobs during construction and 450 permanent jobs.

“The reality is that data centers are going to be a big part of America’s future. The question isn’t whether they will be built, but rather: Can Michigan benefit from these jobs and build data centers in a smarter way while upholding our strong environmental laws to protect our precious natural resources?” Whitmer said.

In the new legislative year, House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) is planning to introduce a property tax cut proposal that gives Michigan voters two choices on how to replace the lost dollars for local governments and schools.

The Speaker told the Off the Record panel this would be a revenue-neutral plan, and one of the options to replace the lost revenue from the property tax cut “may deal with the sales tax . . . this is one of the ways you could deal with it.” He said his staff has given him “20 options” and he is currently working down the list to find two that he wants to “put up for a vote next year.”

To put something on the statewide ballot would take a supermajority vote in the House and Senate. Hall hopes to have the details in place next year. He emphasizes this is not a tax increase, but a tax shift.

The strategy is patterned after the original Proposal A property tax proposal of 1994 during the Engler administration, when voters were given a choice between an income tax hike and the sales tax. Voters supported Proposal A with the sales tax.

One of the approaches Hall is considering is allowing the Democrats to pick the alternative revenue source for the second option.

On Tuesday, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, alongside the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s Michigan High-Speed Internet Office (MIHI), announced a groundbreaking investment to expand high-speed internet access across the state. Michigan has received $920 million in federal funding through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity highlighted is the largest investment in internet infrastructure in Michigan’s history and a milestone for the nation. Combined with $550 million in private-sector matching funds, the total investment will reach $1.47 billion.