Missouri panel recommends 10-cent gas tax increase

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A Missouri panel is recommending increasing the state's 17-cent fuel tax by 10 cents for gas and 12 cents for diesel to pay for road and bridge work.

Transportation taskforce leader Rep. Kevin Corlew on Tuesday said the fuel tax increase would bring in an estimated $430 million annually. That would fill a little more than half of the $825 million annual shortfall facing Missouri transportation.

If passed by lawmakers during the roughly five-month legislative session that begins today, the tax increase still would need public approval through a statewide vote. But tax increases have struggled to make it through the Legislature.

The last fuel tax increase was in 1996.