(Missourinet) – The Missouri legislature has passed a resolution which establishes a panel to explore ways to improve the state’s roads and highways.
When the Senate followed previous House action and unanimously approved the measure Wednesday, the “21st Century Missouri Transportation System Task Force” was created.
The group will evaluate the state’s roads and bridges as well as transportation funding and whether there’s enough money to maintain the system. It will then make recommendations to address the needs and funding of roads.
The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has identified $825 million in additional money needed every year to address roads in its “Citizen’s Guide to Transportation Funding.” Broken down, the expenses include $170 million to maintain roads, $275 million in economic development and safety projects, $300 million to reconstruct interstate highways, and $80 million to improve mobility options.
The task force will be charged with figuring out how much money the state can raise for roads and determining how that funding will be acquired.
During what turned into a lengthy floor debate Wednesday, senators from both sides of the aisle agreed the need to address decaying transportation infrastructure is long overdue. There was less consensus on how to finance the cost.
Republican Senator Doug Libla of Poplar Bluff has been a longtime advocate for improving roads. He contends the best way to raise money is by increasing the stagnant motor fuel tax.
“Right therein lies the problem that we have,” Libla said. “1996 was the last time we adjusted the rate.”
Fellow GOP member Bill Eigel of Weldon Spring said he would rather not raise any taxes, but instead use money from existing revenue.
“I think people are frustrated with government because every time we see a problem, we ask for more money” Eigel said. “And the only way we solve a lot of our problems is that we ask for more money regardless of the justification. And in this case we would be asking for more money in the form of a fuel tax.”
Eigel offered a proposal this year to authorize 10% of state sales and use taxes to be used for road improvements. The measure never gained traction.
The task force will include a bipartisan group of 10 lawmakers along with the governor or his designee, the heads of the State Highway Patrol, Department of Economic Development and Department of Transportation, and nine residents of the state.
The group will meet numerous times and hold public hearings. It will report a summary of its activities and any recommendations for legislation to the General Assembly by January 1 of next year.
The task force resolution will not have to have Governor Greitens’ signature because it was created with the legislature’s approval. Wednesday’s vote in the Senate was 33-0.