Missouri Advances $8B Transportation Tax

Tom Warne Report, 26 April 2013

Land Line Magazine – April 23, 2013

A 10-year, one-cent general tax worth $8 billion to support transportation work is advancing through the Missouri statehouse. The House Transportation Committee voted to advance the measure which would also keep lawmakers from approving tolls or a fuel tax hike. Senate lawmakers have already approved the plan with a 24-10 vote.

Senate Joint Resolution 16 will raise an estimated $800 million annually in new revenue, and advocates say it will help the state maintain safe and reliable transportation infrastructure.

Sen. Wayne Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau, told fellow lawmakers that the measure is vital to the developmental economy of the region.

“If we want to continue to draw economic development to Missouri, we need to take care of our infrastructure,” Wallingford said.

Many states have moved ahead with funding initiatives this year in order to finance their transportation programs. The realization is setting in that increased funding at the federal level is an increasingly unlikely scenario so they are taking matters into their own hands. As the ratio of federal funds to state funds continues to increase in more and more states the requirements and the “strings attached” for the use of federal funds continue to increase as well. No state is going to walk away from federal funds but there will be an increasing effort on the part of the states to isolate federal funds and their collateral requirements to a smaller and smaller part of their programs. TW

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