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Bipartisan Bill Would Boost Kentucky’s Gas Tax By 10 Cents
By: Associated Press
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FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – A bipartisan proposal in the Kentucky legislature would raise the gas tax by 10 cents per gallon and impose annual fees on hybrid and electric vehicles in an attempt to jump start the state’s stagnant road fund.
Kentucky has a backlog of more than $1 billion in road paving projects, plus at least 1,000 bridges that need to be repaired or replaced. But the road fund the state uses to pay for those projects has not increased since 2014.
House Bill 609 by Republican Rep. Sal Santoro and Democratic Rep. John Sims would add an extra $391 million a year to the state’s road fund. The bill is the result of a study committee formed last summer by former House Speaker Jeff Hoover.