Lawmakers will consider an 11-cent-per-gallon increase in the gas tax to help fund road repair, after the transportation committee approved the proposal without Republican support.
The committee voted 9-4 in favor of the bill, with four of the five Republican members voting against it, according to the Portland Press Herald. The tax hike originally was part of the highway budget bill, but legislative leaders wanted the proposal as a separate bill, the paper reported. Maine’s current tax on gasoline is 28.4 cents per gallon and 29.6 cents for diesel.
The bill would also eliminate the current highway funding system, which ties the gas tax to the rate of inflation. Proponents of the bill are looking new ways to boost gas tax revenues because fuel consumption is down and the cost of construction materials has increased.