Parson signs off on Missouri gas tax hike | ksdk.com

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has signed into law the state's first gasoline tax increase in decades.

Longtime transportation funding advocate Parson signed the bill late Monday, spokesperson Kelli Jones said. He held ceremonial bill signings near Kansas City's John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil Memorial Bridge and at other infrastructure projects in the state on Tuesday.

The law will gradually raise the state’s 17-cent-a-gallon gas tax to 29.5 cents over five years, with the option for buyers to get a refund if they keep track of their receipts.

The first 2.5-cent increase is slated to take effect in October, which will bring the gas tax to 19.5 cents.

The money will be used for Missouri's roads and bridges.

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Parson signs off on Missouri gas tax hike | ksdk.com

MoBikeFed comment: This long-delayed fuel tax has been in the works for almost two decades. The bad need is that transportation advocates like MoBikeFed have been working to diversify the state's approach to transportation, so that it becomes a lot more than just roads and bridges.

Missouri is short on funding for everything from sidewalks, trails, bike lanes, and ADA accommodations to public transportation, statewide passenger rail, airports, ports, and all the rest.

By the Missouri Constitution, MoDOT's portion of the new gas tax funding is restricted to state roads and bridges only. (About 20% of the fuel tax is distributed to cities and counties, who have a little more flexibility in how they spend the fuel tax funding.)

However, through this years-long process one thing that has happened it's that we and our many allies across Missouri have been able to encourage MoDOT to improve it's bicycle and pedestrian policies significantly.

What that means is that, whatever project MoDOT does - whether from this funding, other funding sources, or (as is most commonly the case) a combination of several funding sources - the chances of including good, accessible bicycle and pedestrian accommodations on places where that date needed the most are much, much higher than they were a decade or two ago.