Why Your Gas Taxes Are Going Up, Sooner Rather Than Later

With gas prices still low and Americans driving more than ever, many states have found an answer to the pressing question of how to fix broken roads: Higher taxes on gasoline — and more fees on cars that don’t need it.

In Georgia, Republican Gov. Nathan Deal on Monday signed a $900 million bill that raised the state’s gas tax for the first time in 44 years. Last month, Idaho did the same, hiking its fuel tax by 7 cents to 32 cents a gallon. And in Michigan, lawmakers and Gov. Rick Snyder have backed a ballot proposal that would have generated $1.25 billion a year for roads through higher taxes and vehicle registration fees.

That all of these moves came via tax-hostile Republican administrations demonstrates the political power of roads. As I’ve written before, both federal and local governments have been shortchanging maintenance costs on the nation’s 4 million miles of roads for several years, dating back before the Great Recession. Those three states followed South Dakota, Utah and Iowa in moving this year; by the end of 2015, more than half the country may have seen a gas tax hike in the past two years.