DRIC In Major Coma
I have a question for you, dear reader.
Pretend that you are a member of the House or Senate of Michigan. You learn that your bureaucrats are in the process of spending $16 million or so of taxpayer money on a study to build a new crossing between Windsor and Detroit. This is after your Government and the Federal Government have spent a decade and hundreds of millions of dollars planning for a Twinned Bridge at the Ambassador Bridge.
You are presented with 2 alternatives:
1) Seemingly favoured by the bureaucrats, spend $1.5 billion plus of taxpayer money for a new bridge a mile downriver. In effect, duplicate everything you have done for the past decade. OR
2) Support a private enterprise initiative to have built at the Ambassador Gateway a new bridge at the expense of the company, and NOT of taxpayers, and receive up to $2 billion of Federal matching funds to be used to fix up other Michigan roads for which there is a shortage of money.
My question: which alternative would you choose?
Exactly right, #2 is a no-brainer and the only logical choice!
While neither the Michigan House or Senate made that choice ie choose the Ambassador Bridge project, clearly that thinking must have been involved when both Houses in Michigan passed budget amendments yesterday (or rather early this morning).
The Senate version directs that MDOT “…shall not use any funds to support the Detroit River international crossing study or to implement any recommendations made from such study.”
The House version is slightly different "no funds appropriated may be expended for the study of a new crossing of the Detroit River between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario without prior approval of the House and Senate committees on transportation.”
Each respective bill will move to the opposite chamber, and only one version will survive in the final budget presented to the Governor.
We'll discuss the consequences another time!
Pretend that you are a member of the House or Senate of Michigan. You learn that your bureaucrats are in the process of spending $16 million or so of taxpayer money on a study to build a new crossing between Windsor and Detroit. This is after your Government and the Federal Government have spent a decade and hundreds of millions of dollars planning for a Twinned Bridge at the Ambassador Bridge.
You are presented with 2 alternatives:
1) Seemingly favoured by the bureaucrats, spend $1.5 billion plus of taxpayer money for a new bridge a mile downriver. In effect, duplicate everything you have done for the past decade. OR
2) Support a private enterprise initiative to have built at the Ambassador Gateway a new bridge at the expense of the company, and NOT of taxpayers, and receive up to $2 billion of Federal matching funds to be used to fix up other Michigan roads for which there is a shortage of money.
My question: which alternative would you choose?
Exactly right, #2 is a no-brainer and the only logical choice!
While neither the Michigan House or Senate made that choice ie choose the Ambassador Bridge project, clearly that thinking must have been involved when both Houses in Michigan passed budget amendments yesterday (or rather early this morning).
The Senate version directs that MDOT “…shall not use any funds to support the Detroit River international crossing study or to implement any recommendations made from such study.”
The House version is slightly different "no funds appropriated may be expended for the study of a new crossing of the Detroit River between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario without prior approval of the House and Senate committees on transportation.”
Each respective bill will move to the opposite chamber, and only one version will survive in the final budget presented to the Governor.
We'll discuss the consequences another time!
posted by JoeBlog at 11:25 a.m.
<< Home