Area lawmakers: transportation, tax credits on legislative agenda

More funding for roads and bridges and regulating tax credits top the 2018 legislative agenda, area lawmakers said.

Kathy Swan

The Legislature could ask voters to raise the gas tax to fund roads and bridges. But area lawmakers said the Legislature might be reluctant to promote a tax increase in the 2018 session because it is an election year.

Holly Rehder

State Reps. Kathy Swan, Donna Lichtenegger, Holly Rehder and Rick Francis, and state Sen. Wayne Wallingford said the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) needs more revenue to maintain and improve roads and bridges.

Donna Lichtenegger

Road and bridge funding

Rick Francis

While increasing the gas tax is one solution, lawmakers also recommended other solutions, including raising fees for driver�s licenses and vehicle plates.

The Southeast Missourian interviewed the lawmakers on this and other issues in advance of the 2018 session, which begins Wednesday in Jefferson City.

As to the fuel tax, Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau, said, �No one likes to raise taxes, yet you have to take care of your property.�

Wallingford said adding a hotel fee for roads and bridges, such as Georgia has implemented, could help.

Swan, R-Cape Girardeau, suggested the state should consider setting up a transportation trust fund and establishing a list of projects that would be funded with any tax increase.

Any state tax increase should sunset after a certain number of years, she suggested.

But Swan said, �I don�t know if there is an appetite in the Legislature to push forward a tax increase.�

Scott County�s Rehder said she is waiting for a report from a state transportation task force.

The 21st Century Missouri Transportation System Task Force, which comprises lawmakers and others, is considering recommending a 10-cent increase in the gasoline tax and a 12-cent increase in the diesel tax.

Missouri�s fuel tax hasn�t been raised since 1996. The state�s gasoline and diesel tax are both 17-cents a gallon.

Lichtenegger, R-Jackson, said MoDOT has done a better job in managing road and bridge operations over the past five years. �They have really cinched their belt up,� she said.

Without additional funding, traffic safety will become a major problem on Missouri�s roads and bridges, she said.

Ultimately, she said it would be up to Missouri voters to decide whether to increase the fuel tax.

Francis, R-Perryville, said he doubts voters will approve any measure to increase the gas tax.

But Francis said lawmakers legally could approve an increase of a few cents without voter approval.

�That would be my choice,� he said.

The Legislature also should consider raising license and vehicle fees to help fund roads and bridges, Francis said.

Tax credits

As to the issue of state tax credits, the five lawmakers agreed the Legislature needs to have budgetary control over such credits. Swan repeatedly has sponsored legislation to do that, but so far without success.

Francis said he favors placing �sunset clauses� on current and future tax-credit programs.

Wallingford said he doesn�t want to do away with all tax credits.

�Some tax credits are good for economic development,� he said.

Rehder said lawmakers need to better regulate tax credits because the system �has been abused by a few (developers).�

Developers should not be able to sell tax credits to other developers, Rehder said.

Cutting back on tax credits would mean more tax dollars would be available to fund state government, she said.

Taxes to term limits

As to other issues, Wallingford said he would like to see lawmakers cut individual and corporate income taxes.

Wallingford said the electric grid needs to be modernized. But the Republican state senator said he favors capping annual increases so they don�t unduly burden business and residential consumers.

Rehder wants to repeal the state�s prevailing-wage law, contending it unnecessarily raises the cost of public-works projects.

Francis favors establishment of regional 911 systems, which would be funded with a tax on cellphones.

As for Lichtenegger, she has introduced legislation to change term limits to allow lawmakers to serve longer in the House and Senate.

Lichtenegger�s proposal, which would require a constitutional change, would increase the maximum number of years lawmakers could serve in each Legislative body from eight years to 12 years.

The change could not occur without voter approval.

House members can serve a maximum of four, two-year terms under the existing term limits. Senators can serve a maximum of two, four-year terms.

Lichtenegger said the system requires frequent elections, which hamper legislative efforts on highly debated issues such as repealing the prevailing wage.

�We are in an election year and we will not get there,� she said of efforts to repeal the prevailing-wage law.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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