(Source: MIRS.news, Published 05/09/23) Round one of this session's aggregate debate looked a lot like the first legislative hearing in 2021 or 2019.
Business, labor and the road-building lobby told lawmakers how putting the state in charge of siting new gravel mines will make repairing the state's "D"-grade roads faster and cheaper.
Local governments argue why taking away local control is bad for residents. The environmental lobby stresses how new mines chew up farmland and possibly release contaminants into the groundwater.
Meanwhile, some legislators staked out their position, while others pledged to work together to find some area of common ground . . . if that's possible.
The House committee room was nearly full. The aggregate issue is a Lansing Lobbyist Full Employment Act. Digging for road materials impacts so many different entities it's almost unavoidable.
Money is being made or money is lost regardless of whether HB 4526, HB 4527 and HB 4528 are signed by the Governor or not. The question is over who is on the money-won side and the money-lost side.
The difference in today's two-hour hearing before the House Regulatory Reform Committee was legislative dynamics and how they helped stoke a heightened intensity on both sides.
Unlike prior attempts to put the state's environmental regulators in charge of permitting aggregate mines, the bills will start with House leadership four-square in support. The real ballgame will likely erupt in the Senate.
The first two times this issue was taken up, it was a gung-ho Senate passing bills that disappeared in a reluctant House.
With half of the House members brand new, where are the votes? Who is a yes? Who is a no? What can change minds? Is there a compromise that can be reached?
The uncertainty is causing anxiousness that spilled over with the first question to the first witness, Doug Needham, executive director of the Michigan Aggregates Association.
Rep. Mike Mueller (R-Linden): I know this is kind of a hot-button issue, right? If you want to come to an agreement, would you still consider this package if there was an exemption for the Metamora area?
Needham: No. We are not for exemptions.
Mueller: What you have is what you want, right?
Needham: We believe putting it in the hands of the experts at (the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy) to determine whether or not a mine should be opened in a community or not is where the decision should be made.
Mueller: OK, we've worked on these for quite a few years. You're trying to get something done. So, there has to be a compromise, correct?
Needham: We have compromised, considerably.
Mueller: Do you think you went as far as you could go?
Needham: We have made significant compromises throughout the life of the bills as these have been worked on. We have sat down with . . . our opposition. We've added new environmental protections. We've added additional time for public comments. We have made sure that haul routes are collaborated with the local road commission. So we have made considerable compromises throughout the life of this bill.
Mueller wasn't convinced. Speaking with MIRS as he left the 5th floor, Mueller said he's a "no" on the bills until he sees both sides working together.
It's as if both sides are starting on their own 10-yard-line, said Regulatory Reform Committee chair Tyrone Carter (D-Detroit) .
"Each side wants it their way," Carter said. "It's 90/10 right now. If I can get it to 60/40 . . .
"Obviously, this has gone on for decades. It's not going away. We talk about kicking the can down the road. Well, I think it's been dented enough," Carter said. "We've got to get this resolved."
It was hard to see where the middle ground is coming from when the interest groups' testimony today seemed a little more dug in. A little more entrenched.
For the road-building lobbyists, if they can't get this through with the House Speaker's team sponsoring the bills, when are they getting it?
Local governments have whipped up the "Not In My Back Yard" (NIMBY) crowd with slippery slope fears. Today, it's aggregates. Tomorrow, it's wind turbines and solar farms.
The lead lobbyist on this issue for the Michigan Municipal League, Jen Rigterink, opened her testimony with, "New year, same crap. Point blank."
Sitting in the background is the Governor's office. It's presumed Gov. Gretchen WHITMER would sign the bills if they make it to her desk. That said, she's not using one stitch of political capital to support them or oppose them.
"Governor Whitmer is committed to continue fixing the damn roads and bridges across the state," said Whitmer spokesperson Bobby Leddy. "By the end of this construction season, we will have rebuilt or repaired nearly 20,000 lane miles and 1,400 bridges. We are always open to working with anyone to pass laws that will help us make even more progress, and will be reviewing these bills as they make their way through the legislature."
