Michigan Senate OKs sharp gas tax hikes to fix roads

Michigan Senate OKs sharp gas tax hikes to fix roads:
"LANSING, Mich. (Detroit Free Press) -- The Michigan Senate voted Thursday to sharply increase gas taxes over the next four years to potentially raise more than $1 billion annually to fix the state's crumbling roads and bridges.
The bill from Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, was passed quickly and without debate, by a 23-14 vote, after a number of false starts earlier in the day, during a lame-duck session.
Richardville told reporters the measure passed Thursday could still change during the remainder of the lame-duck session and it's still possible voters could be asked to approve a 1 percentage point hike in the state's 6% sales tax as an alternative.
The Senate took "a big step to show people we're serious," Richardville said. "If you've got an alternative, we're going to take a look at it."
In the latest version, the wholesale tax would begin at 9% on April 1, 2015 and gradually increase to 15.5% on Jan. 1, 2018.
Based on a wholesale gas price of $2.50 a gallon, that would result in a gas price hike of 17 cents a gallon when fully implemented.
There are measures in the bill to cap price increases if the wholesale price of gas spikes."