Gas Tax Passes In House Committee

After a 3 hour debate, members of the State House Ways and Means Committee passed a 17 cents per gallon increase in the gas tax.

All three local members on the committee voted against the measure, Dodie Horton of Haughton, Jim Morris of Oil City and Alan Seabaugh of Shreveport.

DOTD Secretary Shawn Wilson told the committee: "It is time to act."

The committee ok'd the bill on a 9-7 vote.

The bill is now headed to the full House, where a two-thirds majority is needed for passage. The session ends on June 8.

Right now, we pay 38.4 cents per gallon now, 20 cents of that goes to the state.

The Governor's Office released this statement from John Bel Edwards:

Today's vote demonstrates that there is broad bipartisan support for both improving our state's infrastructure and embracing the accountability framework established by the task force.

CLICK HERE to watch the committee debate.