The Indiana House
of Representatives voted in favor of State Rep. Ed Soliday’s (R-Valparaiso)
bill to provide funding to maintain and improve Indiana’s roads and bridges.
The bill passed on
a 62-35 floor vote Tuesday.
House Speaker Brian
Bosma has backed the bill, which Gov. Mike Pence and conservative groups
criticize for raising Indiana’s taxes. Under the bill, the cigarette tax
would increase by $1 per pack and the 18-cent-per-gallon gas tax would go up
by 4 cents.
Soliday said the
state’s stationary gas tax is losing ground to inflation, and generating
less revenue due to improved fuel efficiency. This bill calls for the gas
tax, which has not been increased in more than 10 years, to be indexed to
reflect the change in buying power from 2002 to today.
House Bill 1001
also calls for the state income tax to be cut by 5 percent over eight years.
The bill now moves
to the Senate, which also has its own plan backed by Pence that would
earmark part of the state’s surplus for road improvements as a short-term
solution to the state’s crumbling infrastructure.
Rep. Soliday
represents the city of Valparaiso, all of Center, Union and Washington
townships and portions of Liberty and Jackson townships.