Pass gas tax hike to fix roads, bridges

Legislative leaders should force vote so people can see which lawmakers will have blood on their hands when bridges collapse, roads fail

The Clarion-Ledger

Joe Sanderson Jr., chairman and CEO of Sanderson Farms and chairman of the Blueprint Mississippi Transportation Infrastructure Task Force, left, tells reporters Friday, Dec. 18, 2015, that the state needs to spend another $375 million a year to fix decaying bridges and roads, and pledged to throw the group's political support behind a campaign to boost funding during a meeting of the state's chamber of commerce in Jackson, Miss., while Blake Wilson, Mississippi Economic Council President and CEO, listens.

The Mississippi Legislature is once again poised to abdicate its responsibility in dealing with infrastructure improvements because it is scared to raise taxes. Instead of acting, lawmakers want to “study” the issue, which is the very definition of legislative procrastination.

Many of our roads and bridges are in dire need of repair. It is a problem that has plagued Mississippi for years, and it is reaching a point where repair costs could soon skyrocket and — even worse — serious problems such as wrecks, injuries and even death could occur.

However, a majority of lawmakers in both the House and Senate seem scared to death to raise taxes on gasoline despite the fact that Mississippi has one of the lowest gas taxes in the nation. One of the reasons is because Republicans and conservative groups have sold the notion that taxes are evil and there is no good reason ever to raise taxes. Such is the essence of arguments put forth by the Mississippi chapter of Americans for Prosperity and some Republican lawmakers.

POLL: Majority of Mississippians support tax increase for roads, bridges

While we agree that raising taxes should be a last resort, the idea that any tax increase is automatically a bad idea is an irresponsible and ignorant stance. State revenue cannot sustain needed improvements. Our roads and bridges have deteriorated to this point because lawmakers have not increased revenue for this fund since the gas tax was last increased in the 1980s. The issue is that the gas tax is a flat amount, and so no matter how much the price of gasoline goes up or down, it remains the same. The result: gas prices have grown since then, and the average miles driven by residents has increased as well. However, the gas tax has remained fixed.

The Mississippi Economic Council, a non-partisan organization of businesses and leaders from across the state, worked with the University of Southern Mississippi to do an exhaustive study of road and bridge conditions, the manner in which the Mississippi Department of Transportation manages its funds and the most pressing needs facing our state’s infrastructure. It came back with a solid recommendation of what needs to be done.

That the Legislature both feels the need for further study and believes it can do a better job than what has already been done doesn’t make a lick of sense. The truth is that our lawmakers are scared to raise taxes. They fear what special interest groups will say about them, even though voters, community leaders and local businesses have all expressed support for such a plan.

While it seems lawmakers have made their decision, time has not run out. The Legislature can still pass this bill. In fact, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and House Speaker Phillip Gunn should bring bills to the floor and force a vote. Let the people see which lawmakers are willing to do what must be done to improve our roads and bridges and which lawmakers will cower to special interests and allow our infrastructure to deteriorate even further.

We need to know who to blame when the unthinkable finally happens thanks to a bridge collapse or eroded road. We need to know which lawmakers will have blood on their hands because they refused to do their job.