Ohio -- Just hours after the State of the State, in which Governor DeWine detailed the dire, dangerous conditions of our roads, lawmakers shut down his 18-cent gas tax proposal.
And cut it by nearly half.
- Governor DeWine spent the better part of his first ever State of the State address making the case for an 18-cent gas tax increase to pay for transportation projects
- A few hours after the State of the State address, the GOP said they weren’t willing to go that far
- Lawmakers are proposing a smaller hike, spread over 3 years
They say they only want a 10-cent increase, divided up over three years.
So, beginning October 1st, it would shoot up 5 more cents a gallon— and increase incrementally from there until it hits that 10 cents.
On top of that, there would be an annual fee of $200 for electric cars, and $100 a year for hybrids.
But DeWine says it’s not enough.
ODOT is battling a billion dollar deficit, and he says the 18 cents was the bare minimum he could have asked for to keep our roads safe.
“If roads deteriorate by 25 percent, crashes double, when they deteriorate by 60, crashes rise ten fold. If we do nothing more Ohioans will get hurt, and more Ohioans will die,” said DeWine.
If it’s any consolation, the House is offering up $70 million for public transit, which is $30 million more than what DeWine had in mind.
How this all plays out remains to be seen when it goes to the House floor for a vote Thursday.