Governor pushes Legislature to pass $1.4B fuel tax hike to improve Michigan roads, bridges

Gov. Rick Snyder is stepping up pressure on lawmakers to boost Michigan's fuel taxes to raise $1.4 billion to improve roads and bridges.

Snyder says if legislators don't act during nine remaining voting days this year, the roads will just "get worse." The Republican governor met with political and business leaders in Southfield Monday to discuss road funding after touring deteriorating bridges in Detroit along the Lodge Freeway.

Snyder supports legislation passed by the Republican-led Senate to more than double the 19-cents-a-gallon gasoline tax over four years.

He's open to an alternative such as eliminating Michigan's sales tax on gas while asking voters to increase the overall 6 percent sales tax. But he says lawmakers should first pass the Senate bill because roads won't get better until Michigan spends more.