COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – State Senator Mike Shirkey and State Representative Eric Leutheuser met with the Branch County Board of Commissioners at their work session Tuesday and went over a number of issues that state lawmakers are currently facing.
Leutheuser said auto insurance reform was the number one priority. He pointed out it was a bipartisan solution as it passed in the House by a 94-15 vote.
Road funding is the hot button topic these days after Governor Whitmer ran for office on a promise of fixing Michigan’s roads.
Shirkey pointed out there are differences in the Senate and House plans for road funding and he doesn’t think Whitmer’s 45 cent gas tax proposal will stick.
County Commissioner Terri Norris expressed concerns that the Governor will leave county roads behind.
After Commissioner Don Vrablic raised concerns about Amish buggies damaging county roads, Shirkey said legislation will be introduced in September that will be along the lines of Amish transportation regulations in Pennsylvania which he called very specific.
The Branch County Farm Bureau adopted a pair of resolutions last September that called for the annual licensing of horse drawn vehicles that are used mainly on public roads and that all animals and vehicles be required to have rubber shoes and/or wheels.
