Sen. Wayne Wallingford says incremental gas tax raises through the legislature could fund roads

A Cape Girardeau lawmaker wants to steer increased funding to roads and bridges by incrementally raising the gas tax.

State Sen. Wayne Wallingford said, “We have to do something about the roads.”

State Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff, has proposed raising Missouri’s gas tax by 6 cents over three years and providing for future increases based on inflation.

It is estimated the tax increase could generate an additional $200 million annually for the state road fund by 2023.

Wallingford said by increasing the fuel tax by 2 cents a year, lawmakers can avoid having to put the issue before voters again.

Missouri’s voters last year rejected a plan to raise taxes to pay for road and bridge repairs.

The Cape Girardeau Republican and assistant majority floor leader said while he doesn’t want to “pay more for gas,” it is the best approach to securing the funding needed to fix the state’s deteriorating roads and bridges.

All motorists who use Missouri’s roads pay the fuel tax, including those from out of state, Wallingford said.

“A lot of people using the roads are from other states,” he said, explaining why increasing the fuel tax is the best and fairest taxing solution.

The fuel tax has not been raised since 1996.

Gov. Mike Parson has proposed borrowing $350 million to address failing bridges around the state. But that idea was rejected by House lawmakers, who last week approved a $29 billion state budget including $100 million in general revenue for roads and bridges.

House leaders have suggested putting a similar appropriation annually toward road and bridge repairs for the next several years.

But Wallingford questioned the idea of relying on general revenue to pay for transportation improvements.

“It leaves a lot of uncertainty,” he said.

He said he isn’t sold on borrowing money, as the governor proposed, to fund road and bridge projects.

The House plan, by not going in debt, could save the state as much as $100 million over 15 years, according to lawmakers.

Some senators, however, are looking at a plan to borrow $42 million to fund road and bridge repairs.

Wallingford said, “It’s not much. It’s better than nothing, which is what we have right now.”

Unlike the gas tax proposal, a $42 million bond issue is “kind of a stop-gap measure to put some money into the road system,” he said.

Wallingford said he is uncertain as to what funding measure the Senate will adopt, but it could differ from the House plan.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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