During budget negotiations, Governor Jim Justice frequently comes back to his road construction plan to raise gas taxes and DMV fees to finance over $2 billion in road construction bonds. The Governor’s effort to kick-start the state’s economy rests on his proposal to fix and build roads, putting thousands of West Virginians to work.
However, Justice and the Republican leadership in the House of Delegates remain at odds over how best to #FTDR (Fix the damn roads).
House leaders say they are willing to support what will amount to about an eight-cent a gallon tax increase if the citizens approve a road bond issue first. They point out that the Legislature has already passed a resolution authorizing a road bond, so Governor Justice could call an election in 90 days. If voters approve the bond, the Legislature could quickly pass the taxes to pay for the bond.
Justice, Senate leaders and the road construction industry want the tax increases first, before a vote on the bond. They argue an immediate increase in taxes and fees will salvage this road paving season. The industry group West Virginians for Better Transportation says only 21 asphalt resurfacing projects will be advertised through the end of May, compared with 90 in 2015.
The wild card is how voters would react to a huge road bond. One theory is that if the Legislature approves the taxes first, tax opponents will take out their anger by voting down the bond issue. However, supporters of that approach say even if the bond fails the state will still have another $130 million a year to fix the roads because the taxes will already be imposed.
The road plan is so important to the Governor that it is a key leverage point in budget negotiations. But it’s unclear how much Justice is willing to give up on other fronts as long as he gets his way on roads.
Other states are fed up with their crumbling infrastructures and are moving ahead on roads. Just this week South Carolina became the fifth state this year (after Tennessee, Montana, Indiana and California) to raise gas taxes. Lawmakers in Columbia overrode Republican Governor Henry McMaster’s veto to raise the gas tax two cents a year over the next six years.
The Governor’s Commission on Fair Taxation report from 1999 said of the gas tax, “It is considered to match the burdens to benefits in that the revenue generated by the tax is dedicated to highway use.” Perhaps the best way to think of gas taxes is to categorize them as user fees; those who use the roads pay for them.
#FTDR.