Below is a statement from David Guenthner, senior strategist for state affairs at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, on House Bill 5229. 

Evidence from across the United States has shown mass transit to be an expensive and unproductive means to address urban mobility. House Bill 5229 to amend the Municipal Partnership Act (MPA), primarily as a way around the past failings of the Regional Transit Authority Act (RTA), was especially problematic because the MPA approach applied to the entire state rather than merely one specific authority in Southeast Michigan and could have become, essentially, a license to create an unlimited number of ‘joint endeavors’ throughout the state with the authority to raise taxes on Michigan residents. Most troubling was the language specifying the tax levy for new joint endeavors would not have counted toward a participating local government’s property tax limits under Michigan statute and the Michigan Constitution. We appreciate that the leadership of the Michigan House has acknowledged those concerns and is moving forward with a different approach that does not include those harmful elements.

You can learn more about the Mackinac Center's work here.