MAPLESVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Wednesday proposed a 10-cent-a-gallon gas tax increase to fund road and bridge construction in a state where she says the infrastructure is crumbling.
The proposed 10-cent increase would be phased in over three years and then the state fuel tax would be indexed to keep up with construction costs.
The Republican governor said the state’s current 18-cent gas tax, which was last increased 27 years ago, has not adequately kept up with the state’s construction and maintenance needs. As a result, she said the state has dangerous and bumpy roadways, obsolete bridges and clogged traffic arteries that hinder the flow of motorists and commerce.
“We must provide safe roads and bridges for our people and be sure that the wheels of commerce can continue to turn …. It’s time to make our crumbling infrastructure a problem of our past,” Ivey said in front of a 55-year-old bridge in the central Alabama town of Maplesville.
The proposed gas tax increase is expected to be the dominant issue of the 2019 legislative session that begins Tuesday. As the Republican governor announced the details of the proposal, she made a plea for broad support, saying it is an issue that crosses party lines.