Legislature has underfunded road construction for past 10 years

To the Editor,The driver behind this proposal [Proposal 1] is the fact that the Michigan Legislature has for over 10 years underfunded our transportation infrastructure.They have at last passed the buck to the people by asking us to amend the sales tax by increasing it from six cents per dollar to seven cents per dollar. This would really be a tax increase the people would be voting on themselves. What is going on here? Now of course this would be new money. Always in the past when new money comes into the picture the line forms at the rear. The transportation department itself is 1.9 billion in debt as the result of borrowing to feed the system. These bills have to be paid at some point. The state itself has many millions in tax credits that were passed out as a result of corporate give-aways at the start of the automotive crisis. Those credits will most certainly be called in. Don’t forget the line still forming. Meantime our roads and bridges are in serious condition.There are dollar and cents figures out there stating how much can be counted on but remember they are only estimates. Not really available until fiscal year 2016. Funding is badly needed. We will all pay more. The more part of it is directly the result of legislator’s failure to do their job. Yes, and the line is demanding attention. Could I be bold enough to mention that the state income is falling behind projections?Don Isley Blissfield