LANSING - Voter passage of the ballot plan to provide some $1.3 billion in funding to improve the state's roads fund would be a boon to road-building construction workers - and motorists.

But the May 5 ballot issue is also turning out to be a bit of a puzzle with a lot of parts.

Unable to come up with a plan to find additional money to fund road and bridge repairs before the end of last year, the state Legislature put the issue on a May 5 special election ballot. The ballot proposal would raise the state sales tax by a penny to pay for: the $1.3 billion in new road funding, plus $300 million in added funding for schools and $94 million for local governments. Low income families would also be helped with restoration of a tax credit.

The news service MIRS reports that the Gov. Snyder's administration is doubling down on its bet that Proposal 1 will pass on May 5. Michigan spent $451 million on roads out of the state's General Fund in Fiscal Year 2014, but is spending $286.6 million this year. That's getting cut to $139.5 million for next year's proposed budget.

"If this proposal doesn't pass, Michigan drivers can expect a lot more potholes in the next few years," said Ron Brenke of the American Society of Civil Engineers, as reported by MIRS. "Legislators are not going to find enough money in the budget to pay for them. People have been trying that for years, and it just hasn't worked."

Public polling hasn't been encouraging, either. Denno/Vanguard Public Affairs is reporting 37 percent of Michigan voters taken Feb. 2-5 support the sales tax increase to fix the roads while 37 percent are against it. Proponents of ballot issues generally are more encouraged to see polling at 50 percent in favor of their issue. Beyond that, a bevy of Republican lawmakers have not signed on with the plan, with some actively against it.

Snyder has continued to push the plan, and so have the state's building trades unions. "Our roads are crumbling, one in 9 bridges is structurally deficient, and our safety is at stake," Snyder said in his State of the State speech. "We can’t have a band aid approach to patching up roads, and we can’t push this problem off for future generations. I support the bipartisan plan to fix our roads and bridges, protect our schools, and provide tax relief for lower-income Michiganders."

Said Patrick Devlin, secretary-treasurer of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council: "We support Proposal 1, because it's going to be a jobs lifeline for our workforce. Spending an additional $1.3 billion every year on roads is going to put thousands more tradespeople to work, doing work that will benefit the entire state. Proposal 1 isn't a perfect ballot issue, but few things in politics don't require some give and take. Overall this is a very positive plan for our members."