Raising the Gas Tax Is No Longer Taboo In Many States

Gas station. Image credit: Mike Mozart, Flickr

More and more states are turning to the gas tax to raise funding for transportation issues. For more than two decades, few states wanted to raise gas tax due to the political consequences. As federal transportation dollars dry up, more states are turning to the gas tax to make up the funding shortfall. Within the past five years, 22 states have passed laws imposing higher gas taxes, though Colorado is not one of those states. This year alone, California, Indiana, and Tennessee have signed laws to raise fuel taxes. The increased gas taxes have been in both Democratic, Republican, and politically-mixed states.

For analysis of the gas tax increases, read the article from Governing.