Liz McCormick Published

Road Funding Bill Slowing in House Committee

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The House Finance Committee will continue debating a bill Tuesday morning that would increase Division of Motor Vehicle fees and some taxes to help fund road maintenance and construction projects.

The House Finance Committee began debating Senate Bill 555 Monday afternoon, but after an hour of discussion, Chairman Eric Nelson moved to lay the bill over until Tuesday morning.

As approved in the Senate, the bill adds a trigger to increase the state’s gasoline tax by 3 cents when the wholesale price of a gallon drops below $2 dollars, but also generates dollars for the state road fund through increased taxes and fees.

A House Finance Subcommittee of seven members discussed the bill on Friday, and suggested the committee as a whole move forward with caution because of the included increases.

There are two pending amendments to the bill that were suggested by the subcommittee. Those amendments are expected to be discussed further when the committee meets again Tuesday.