Missouri has low fuel taxes and the legislature is unwilling to increase it. Maintenance needs remain. Some states in this situation have opted to closer rest areas:
For more than half a century, old-fashioned, no-frills highway rest stops have welcomed motorists looking for a break from the road, a bathroom or a picnic table where they can eat lunch.
But in some states, these roadside areas are disappearing.
Cash-strapped transportation agencies are shuttering the old ones to save money, or because they don’t attract enough traffic or are in such bad shape that renovating them is too costly. Or, the stops have been overtaken by tourist information centers, service plazas that take in revenue from gasoline and food sales, or commercial strips off interstate exits. (USA Today)
How many rest areas does Missouri have?
Missouri maintains 8 Welcome Center’s, 14 Rest Areas, and 23 Truck-Only Parking sites across the state. Located on seven different Interstates, the facilities feature a variety of easy-to-access amenities to serve travelers. (MoDOT)
Even though my parents were both blue collar workers they both were anti-union. In 1979 General Motors opened a new plant in Oklahoma City to build the new X-Body cars (Chevy Citation). Briefly my father considered trying to get a job there, but he didn’t want to be forced to join a union.
Then why did he even consider applying? Simple: union wages, hours, benefits, etc. My dad remained a self-employed carpenter the rest of his life. Growing up in their house I too was anti-union but moving to St. Louis at age 23 allowed me to learn about the history & importance of organized labor…including the long-standing resistance from some business interests.
I do think ‘right to work’ could bring more jobs to Missouri — more low-paying jobs.
One scene from an old episode of Roseanne sums up the issue:
We will see action on the subject quickly.
According to St. Louis Public Radio political reporter Jo Mannies, the question is not if ‘right to work’ will become a reality in Missouri but how quickly and how big?
Missouri’s General Assembly will convene in early January, and Mannies said this issue is probably one of the first they’ll take up as a “show of strength” and “to unify the Republican base and bring Greitens into the fold.” Mannies expects that right-to-work will be a decided reality in Missouri by early February 2017.
“The only question is how expansive it will be,” Mannies said. “In some states, police and fire are exempted because Republicans have always been trying to reach out to police and fire groups and they don’t want to tick them off. Some of the bills that are introduced may be blanket, including every union or association. Other bills might just do private sector. Some may do everything but police and fire. Some may be police, fire and teachers.” [St. Louis Public Radio]
Good question, will this apple to every union or will some be exempted? My guess is more conservative-leaning unions like police unions will be exempted.
Based on the non-scientific Sunday Poll, I’m preaching to the choir:
Q: Agree or disagree: A right-to-work law will bring more jobs & higher wages to Missouri.
Eric Greitens was sworn in as Missouri’s governor on Monday. One of his campaign promises is a top priority for the legislature.
When Greitens takes office, Monday, Republicans for the first time in history will hold supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature and control of the governor’s mansion. That likely will mean top GOP priorities vetoed by Nixon will become law, including a right-to-work bill barring mandatory union fees that Greitens said he supports. (KMOX)
Right-to-work is the subject of today’s poll.
The poll will close at 8pm — earlier if there’s evidence of a campaign to significantly alter the non-scientific results. Results and my thoughts on Wednesday.
January 11, 2017Featured, Missouri, Politics/Policy, TaxesComments Off on Opinion: Missouri Needs To Increase Fuel Taxes, Index For Future Adjustments
Missouri Capital, Jefferson City, MO, April 2011
The last time Missouri’s fuel tax rate increased was 1996 — from a 1993 law that increased it a little for 3 years. Meanwhile, Missouri has built more miles of infrastructure to maintain and maintenance/construction costs have increased. There are many ways to raise money for roads & bridges but the most direct is fuel taxes.
Our legislators in Jefferson City need to address this issue — but I don’t see it happening. Even if they managed to pass a small increase our new governor would likely veto it.
Q: Agree or disagree: Missouri should index fuel taxes so they automatically adjust up or down.
Strongly agree 11 [40.74%]
Agree 8 [29.63%]
Somewhat agree 4 [14.81%]
Neither agree or disagreeii 1 [3.7%]
Somewhat disagree 2 [7.41%]
Disagree 0 [0%]
Strongly disagree 1 [3.7%]
Unsure/No Answer 0 [0%]
In addition to increasing the fuel tax, there needs to be an index to automatically adjust it going forward. Not exactly sure the basis for the indexing, but we can’t go decades without a change since deterioration & increased costs never stop.
January 8, 2017Featured, Missouri, Sunday PollComments Off on Sunday Poll: Should Missouri Index Fuel Taxes?
Please vote below
The new year brought changes to fuel tax rates in many states:
Georgia, North Carolina, Indiana and Florida will each see modest gas tax increases of less than a penny per gallon, based on automatic adjustments in those states, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
Two states — New York and West Virginia — will have slight reductions based on automatic adjustments, according to the institute. The Empire State’s rate will fall 0.8 cents per gallon, and the Mountain State’s rate will drop 1 cent per gallon.
The hikes reflect state efforts to balance budgets for road construction and maintenance when Congress hasn’t raised the federal gas tax of 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993. State transportation officials and the construction industry contend federal funding hasn’t kept pace with inflation and more fuel-efficient cars. (USA Today)
Missouri’s fuel taxes, however, remain unchanged since 1996. Numerous attempts over the lsat two decades to raise fuel taxes have failed.
From May 2016:
The state legislature did not pass a transportation funding fix during the regular legislative session that ended Friday. One measure that passed in the Senate but died in the House would have asked voters if Missouri’s gas tax should be increased 5.9 cents per gallon to help pay for roads and bridges.
Senator Doug Libla (R-Poplar Bluff) says he worked hard to find a compromise this year in hopes that the proposal would pass.
“The people of the state of Missouri will not be able to vote on whether or not they would like to pay a little more to get better roads and bridges to drive on,” said Libla.
Lawmakers agree transportation funding must increase but they disagree on how to fund it. (MissouriNet)
It seems like some states use indexing to adjust fuel taxes, is this something Missouri should consider?
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