This morning Detroit News published an article on these bills prior to their passage:

“We have not had any general fund support for our parks for almost six years now, and in the meantime the infrastructure continues to deteriorate,” [Senator Patty] Birkholz said. “We’ve barely been able to keep up (with basic maintenance).

“This gives us a way to streamline how we operate our state parks, so that now we can have parks people that were in booths out working in the parks to improve them.”

A proposal to change parks funding from a $24 annual fee to a $10 fee for parks users attached to license plates seemed to be enjoying bipartisan support until end-of-the-year marathon legislative sessions cut off the plan at the knees — for 2009 at least.

Republican State Sen. Patty Birkholz, who co-wrote the legislation along with Ann Arbor Democratic Rep. Rebekah Warren, said she was shocked to hear Democratic House Speaker Andy Dillon wanted to put the breaks on the legislation late last week.

Birkholz said she managed to negotiate a deal with Dillon that would allow a ready-to-go proposal be introduced at the start of the 2010 session in January and the old system would be allowed to expire after three months.

Birkholz said Dillon agreed not to oppose the new bill.

Read the entire article

The state Senate has developed a reasonable compromise on creating a new financing system to help Michigan’s underfunded and deteriorating state parks. The legislation should be approved because it promises to generate more revenue for parks without tricking taxpayers.

Backers of the legislation, led by Republican Sen. Patricia Birkholz of Saugatuck, argue that the combination of a lowered fee and one-stop-shopping aspect of paying while re-registering vehicles will attract more Michiganians and boost revenues for badly needed improvements and repairs to park buildings, roads, water and sewer lines. Seventeen percent of car registration applicants would have to opt in to generate the $11.7 million a year current park fees raise. If 25 percent agreed to the new fee, the parks would get $6 million more a year, and so on.

Michigan’s once-heralded state park system was converted in 2004 to self-financing — supported solely by user fees. This coincided with the state’s long-running recession, and revenue hasn’t kept up with needs.

Read the entire editorial

During the November 12th Senate session, Senator Patty Birkholz spoke of the critical importance of our state parks. Here is her speech as recorded in the Senate Journal:

This summer in June, our Michigan Department of Natural Resources celebrated an important milestone—the 90th anniversary of the Michigan State Park Commission. This 10-person commission was created by the Michigan Legislature in 1919 to begin to forge the foundation of our state park system.

You know, today wherever you are in Michigan, you are never more than a one-hour drive from a state park. Many state parks are recreation areas and are open all year long offering four seasons of recreation from snowshoeing and hiking to skiing and kiteboarding. Twenty-two million annual visitors visit our state parks, generating $650 million in economic benefit to our local communities.

State parks provide low-cost, high-quality recreational opportunities for all Michigan citizens, especially in these tough times. It is important that we maintain these opportunities because all is not well with our state parks system on this 90th anniversary.

Earlier, I outlined the collapsing buildings, the collapsing bridges, the outdated and, in some cases, illegal infrastructure systems, and the lack of care for our natural resources. But this morning, I would like to thank you for helping to save our citizens 60 percent of the cost of their entry into a state park and for helping to reform something we have all been talking about—our state parks operations in this state.

We now have recreational opportunities for our constituents to continue once these bills pass the House and final passage in the Senate. I would like to congratulate you in supporting and maintaining a healthy, vibrant park system for another 90 years. May we all keep in mind that the natural resources of this state and the citizens’ access to these resources are our responsibility as legislators to protect.

With the passage of this important bipartisan package of bills, we can maintain our strong commitment to our irreplaceable natural resources that fuel both our souls and provide opportunity for recreation while supporting our local economies.