JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Senate bill continued to have support from several organizations during a House panel hearing Tuesday, despite the bill being amended to raise a proposed motor fuel tax increase even more.
When the bill was first heard by a Senate committee, the proposal called for the fuel tax to be increased from the current 17 cents per gallon by 1.5 cents for gasoline and 3 cents for diesel. Bill sponsor Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff, originally said he wanted incremental change in putting more funding toward Missouri's highways and critical bridges.
However, Libla amended his bill when he brought it before the full Senate by increasing the motor fuel tax by 5.9 cents per gallon for gasoline and diesel.
"My previous bill, before I put the Senate substitute on it, everybody said, 'Well, that's not going to pay for nothing,'" Libla said. "Now, it is too much."
Libla also amended the bill to include Missouri voter approval. Tax increases that raise a large amount of revenue must go on the ballot. Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, and Sen. Ed Emery, R-Lamar, said they would not filibuster the bill after it was amended to include referendum language.
Libla said he chose the 5.9 cent increase, which would result annually in about $170 million for the State Road Fund and about $35 million for municipalities and counties, because his research showed that's what it would take to "make a dent" in critical bridges and roads.
"I'm not trying to fix everything," Libla said.
He also said the tax revenue will help with inflation — construction costs are much higher than when the gas tax was last increased, 20 years ago.
Libla said it would also keep the Missouri Department of Transportation from dipping deeper into its cash reserves. In April, MoDOT announced it would be spending about $110 million a year from its cash reserves for the next five years.
Patrick McKenna, MoDOT director, echoed Libla's arguments, adding that MoDOT has cut its workforce by 20 percent. MoDOT also closed 120 properties and sold 750 pieces of equipment.
He also mentioned that Missourians already pay a price for a lack of transportation funding.
The individual pays a tax "when you have to drive around a weight-restricted bridge. ... That costs you money," McKenna said.
Despite a sharper increase, organizations that would bear the brunt of paying a higher motor fuel tax still stood by Libla's proposal.
Mark Engemann, the president of the Missouri Dump Truckers Association, said normally a tax increase wouldn't be great for the trucking industry, but in this case it is. A tax increase, he said, would lead to safer, better maintained roads.
"We pay in highway use tax, and we would be more than happy to pay the extra to have better roads and make more jobs for our industry and the construction industry," Engemann said.
Other drivers, he said, talk about the condition of Missouri roads and the number of weight-restricted bridges.
"(A truck driver from Michigan) said, 'I'll go around Missouri before I ever go through that state because the roads are terrible,'" Engemann said.
Other proponents include the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, the Missouri State Council of Firefighters, the Missouri Farm Bureau, County Commissioners Association of Missouri, AAA Missouri, the Missouri Trucking Association, the Associated Industries of Missouri and Empower Missouri.
Two conservative groups, Missouri Alliance for Freedom and Americans for Prosperity, testified against the bill, citing opposition to raising taxes.
Committee members expressed concern that voters wouldn't be as supportive of a tax increase as many of those at the hearing.
Committee member Rep. Bill Lant, R-Pineville, said he is in favor of a motor fuel tax increase and sees a lack of transportation funding as a public safety hazard.
"We can no longer use fire equipment," Lant said. "We will soon not be able to use school buses, and just inches away from rescue equipment."
Libla said a motor fuel tax increase must be the way to fund roads and is the best proposal his years of working on the issue could produce.
"If the voters of Missouri say they do not want to fund Missouri highways and bridges, I'm good with it," Libla said. "I'll be playing a lot of golf."
Panel vote
The House Transportation Committee is expected to vote on the bill May 3.
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