PFC ALAN ROBERT BLOHM
MEMORIAL HIGHWAY
Senate Bill 963 as reported from House committee
Sponsor: Sen. Michael Green
House Committee: Transportation and Infrastructure
Senate Committee: Transportation
Complete to 9-28-18
SUMMARY:
Senate Bill 963 would amend the Michigan Memorial Highway Act to designate the portion of highway M-13 in Bay County as the “PFC Alan Robert Blohm Memorial Highway.”
Proposed MCL 250.1018a
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
PFC Alan Robert Blohm was born on July 26, 1985 in Kawkawlin, Michigan. He graduated in 2004 from Bay City Western High School, where he was a defensive player on the football team. Alan became actively interested in the military in his sophomore year of high school. Choosing to follow in the footsteps of his grandfathers, Alan Blohm (his namesake), who served in the Army, and Chet Vennix, who served in the United States Air Force, he joined the Army in September 2005, while living in Alaska. He completed basic training and advanced individual training as a combat engineer at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in January 2006. In February 2006, he completed airborne school at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he became a member of the 425th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, and was assigned to Fort Richardson—where his grandfather Alan Blohm had been assigned 50 years before.
PFC Blohm was deployed to Iraq on October 1, 2006 for three months and was stationed near the Baghdad area. According to committee testimony, on December 31, 2006, PFC Blohm was part of an explosives detonation team that retrieved bombs that were taken to the desert to be detonated. On return to his stationed area, the Humvee he was riding in was hit, and PFC Alan Robert Blohm died instantly from his wounds. He was 21 years old.
Dedicating a portion of highway M-13 in Bay City to the memory of PFC Alan Robert Blohm would be an appropriate way to honor his life, his dedication to his community, and his sacrifice for our country.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Section 2 of the Michigan Memorial Highway Act indicates that the state transportation department shall provide for the erection of suitable markers indicating the name of the highway only “when sufficient private contributions are received to completely cover the cost of erecting and maintaining those markers.” As a result, the bill has no state or local fiscal impact.
POSITIONS:
The Michigan Department of Transportation has no position on the bill. (9-25-18)
Fiscal Analyst: William E. Hamilton
■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.