Committee to hear fuel tax increase proposal

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A Wyoming legislative committee is set to hear a proposal to raise fuel taxes.

The House Revenue Committee is meeting Monday morning in Cheyenne to consider a bill that would hike fuel taxes by a dime. The tax would increase from 14 cents to 24 cents a gallon on gasoline.

Gov. Matt Mead is pushing the tax increase. He says it would raise more than $70 million a year for state and local road projects.

The governor says increasing gasoline taxes would allow out-of-state motorists to foot much of the bill for maintaining the state's highway system.

Mead says if lawmakers won't raise the fuel tax, he still wants them to fund road projects by diverting some of the mineral revenues currently going into the state's permanent fund.