State Rep. Bill Sauby briefs Mount Clemens on budget, water funding and consumer bills

State Rep. Bill Sauby (District 31) told the Mount Clemens City Commission that the governor’s $60 billion budget is in early negotiations and that her top priority is fixing roads, including a proposed 45-cent-per-gallon gas tax to fund repairs and related investments.

Sauby said the administration and the Appropriations Committee are still in the early stages — "if this was a baseball game they're just in the second inning" — and acknowledged political resistance to a large gas-tax increase even as he urged a bipartisan approach to close infrastructure gaps. He noted that the governor also proposes increases to revenue sharing — a 3% statutory and a 3.2% constitutional boost — to help local governments pay for services.

The update focused heavily on water and environmental funding. Sauby described proposals to dedicate about $37.5 million for lead-and-copper rule implementation, $30 million to address PFAS contamination, and $40 million for the drinking-water revolving fund, which he said would allow loan forgiveness and help local systems finance upgrades and green infrastructure.

Sauby also summarized bills he has introduced. On wage policy, he said he has filed legislation to restore a voter-approved minimum-wage increase that the legislature repealed in a lame-duck session; he asserted the repeal cost workers “about $10,000 over a four-year period.” On education, he advocated making kindergarten mandatory to address a fourth-grade literacy crisis and criticized a 2015 law that imposes a third-grade mandatory reading test without sufficient remediation resources. On consumer protection, he said his bill would cap payday-loan APRs at 36%, replacing what he characterized as rates as high as 360%.

Sauby spent substantial time explaining recently passed auto-insurance reforms scheduled to start July 1, 2020. He said the changes remove non-driving factors (such as ZIP code, credit score, education, marital status and gender) from premium calculations, increase department oversight of the catastrophic fund, and create optional tiers of personal-injury protection with varying savings depending on coverage ($500,000, $250,000, $50,000 or full opt-out for drivers on certain public programs).

Commissioners asked specific local questions: how a gas-tax increase would be prioritized for local roads, whether the governor’s interactive map would benefit Mount Clemens, and how Public Act 51’s lane-mile funding formula can disadvantage densely populated cities. Sauby acknowledged the limits of existing formulas and said the governor is exploring different allocation methods to direct more funding to populated areas.

Sauby invited residents to regular coffee hours, including one at the Mount Clemens Library on June 17, and said he would continue advocating in appropriations subcommittees for the city’s requests — funding for the water treatment plant, riverfront park improvements, parks and recreation, the fire department and street infrastructure. He also noted the city submitted a Natural Resources Trust Fund application seeking funding for a Jon Street reconfiguration to improve Clinton River access.

The Commission thanked Sauby for the briefing and said they welcome continued follow-up as the budget process advances.

The meeting then proceeded to public comment and regular business.