Kansas City Star endorses Prop D, fuel tax for Missouri streets and roads
Recently Streetsblog USA reported that the Kansas City Star is endorsing Prop D, the proposal to raise Missouri's fuel tax, proceeds going to MoDOT, cities, and counties.
Also supporting Prop D: the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Columbia Tribune, Springfield News-Leader, the eMissourian, the Missouri Times, the Southeast Missourian,
and the St. Joseph News-Press. The St. Louis Call says Prop D has a "surprising bipartisan alliance."Here is what the Kansas City Star had to say in its editorial encouraging voters to support Prop D:
It’s no wonder Missouri highway backers are stacking up endorsements for a higher gas tax as fast as Patrick Mahomes is throwing touchdown passes this season.
The gas tax is desperately needed to help Missouri maintain its highway infrastructure here in the crossroads of the nation. Missouri leaders — both Republicans and Democrats — understand that and support Proposition D on the November ballot.
The axle-bending truth is that Missouri has the nation’s seventh-largest highway system, but the second-lowest gas tax at just 17 cents per gallon. Missouri hasn’t raised its fuel tax since 1996 when a man named Bob Dole was running for president.
Some numbers: Missouri today has 34,000 miles of highways and 10,400 bridges. Some 2,000 of those bridges — about one in five — are either in poor condition or under weight restrictions. . . .
After years of anguishing over this issue, the General Assembly finally agreed to a dime-a-gallon increase that will be phased in over four years if voters approve. Besides helping with highways, the tax will generate $124 million a year for city and county road needs. The money can’t be spent on anything else. . . .
The tax would continue to provide a dedicated funding stream for the Highway Patrol. In fact, the ballot language directs the gasoline tax proceeds to “state law enforcement,” which will then free up hundreds of millions of dollars for road and bridge repairs.
The need for the tax is so overwhelming that one is tempted to criticize the General Assembly for not proposing a still-higher increase given how rarely lawmakers bow to the realities of an ever more costly world. Lawmakers easily could have justified a larger bump. The increase should have been tied to the inflation rate.
You can read MoBikeFed's discussion of Prop D here, including:
- What does Prop D do? How much, where does the money go?
- How does Prop D help people who walk and bicycle?
- The unusual bipartisan alliance supporting Prop D
- Answers to questions we've received from MoBikeFed members, including:
- Why is the Highway Patrol involved? Does Highway Patrol get all the new funding? (Answer: No, ALL new state funding goes to MoDOT)
- Why does include things about the Olympics and a Freight Plan?
- Does Prop D completely solve Missouri's transportation funding shortfall? (Answer: No, we still haven't addressed the issue of transportation funding for all other types of transportation besides roads and bridges. We can't stop with just a fuel tax increase!)
- Why is the Highway Patrol involved? Does Highway Patrol get all the new funding? (Answer: No, ALL new state funding goes to MoDOT)
As with any voting issues, the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation does not try to tell its members how to vote! We know that we will have a significant number of members voting both for and against Prop D.
But we do urge you to give serious consideration to Prop D. Right now, Missouri's fuel tax is the 2nd lowest in the nation. Poorly maintained roads and streets do no good for those of us who walk and bicycle on and along those roads and streets.
If we don't pass this fuel tax increase now, conditions will continue to deteriorate, and it will be a long time before we get another chance to make a reasonable increase to the state's gas tax.
- 2018 Elections Guide: Find MoBikeFed's nonpartisan Voter Guide to All Candidates-All Issues on the November 2018 elections here.
Read more here: https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article220348390.html#storylink=cpy
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