This Week with Sen. Doug Libla

Missouri has around 34,000 miles of roadways, according to MODOT. That’s about 10,000 more miles than the circumference of the earth.

It’s MODOT’s job to maintain and repair those roads, and even build new ones as needed. That is not cheap.

Missouri Senator Doug Libla of Poplar Bluff, has a bill working its way through the General Assembly that would help pay for MODOT’s needs by raising the fuel tax for the first time in 20 years.

As our guest for “This Week,” Senator Libla says he certainly remembers 2014, when Missouri voters rejected a sales tax for MODOT.

This is a transcript of our conversation:

Senator Doug Libla: I can see the voters’ angst on a sales tax; that was a new way of funding roads and bridges. But, the precedent is, since 1924, we’ve had a motor fuel users tax which I think is the fairest way to pay for roads and bridges.

Joey Parker: And here we are in 2016. and Missourians are paying 17.3 cents per gallon. That is one of the lowest tax rates in the nation.

Senator Doug Libla: It is. And, you know, that hasn’t been adjusted in 20 years. So, for 20 years, the can has been kicked down the road down in Jefferson City, and we’re falling way behind. And I’m really concerned about the investment that we have…that Missourians already have invested in our roads and bridges. It’s estimated, by some, it’s over 50 billion dollars and I’m into preservation and making sure those roads are taken care of.

Joey Parker: You had quite a hike from Poplar Bluff to our studios in Columbia, and I’m sure you saw some dicey conditions at times, didn’t you?

Senator Doug Libla: Well, you know, we have a lot of traffic on I-70, obviously. We have a lot of traffic everywhere and that’s good for Missouri, We have economic development and people traveling through our state and that is another thing that really concerns me about our tourism and the amount of economic development we have along I-70 which is of upmost importance to people living across the state here in central Missouri east to west. So every time I drive on I-70, I am amazed at the amount of traffic there actually is on Interstate 70. And we have had two lanes on each side for roughly 55, 60 years… something like that.

Joey Parker: As long as you can remember.

Senator Doug Libla: As long as I can remember. It was in the late fifties one of the first interstates built in the United States. So we haven’t done much other than put a little lipstick on occasionally and do some asphalt and some repairs, but those repairs are starting to cost us a lot of money now.

Joey Parker: Your bill, 623, would raise taxes the fuel tax anyways. 1.5 cents for gasoline and 3.5 cents for diesel?

Senator Doug Libla: That’s correct.

Joey Parker: Some members of your own party, Republicans say “no taxes, no tax increase on fuel.

Senator Doug Libla: Well, that maybe the way they look at it but I look at it as economic development and safety. Safety is something I’m really concerned about folks driving on the roads being safe. We really haven’t done a whole lot of expansions in the state on our roads and bridges, and were having a hard time keeping up with them. For instance, to do an overlay of a mile of an asphalt, of an inch and a half, back in 1996 it cost approximately fifty thousand dollars to do that. Now it’s as much between 157,000 to 185,000 whether or not it’s an interstate. That’s triple the cost. Concrete is more than double, so therein lies the problem. So, if we’re going to have good roads and bridges we have got to pay for them and the way the citizens decided 92 years ago was to pay for it through a user tax. Those who drive a little more, pay a little more. Those who drive a little bit less, pay a little bit less. And those who don’t drive at all, obviously don’t pay anything.

Joey Parker: Now, some truck driving associations want to see this work out evenly. They want a fuel tax that’s the same for gasoline and diesel, saying truckers shouldn’t have to shoulder this burden. What do you have to say about that?

Senator Doug Libla: Well, I started at two cents on gas and all fuels. Through compromise in the Senate last year, I ended up with a cent and a half and three and a half though comprise and that was with a fellow member in the Senate, and they just felt like trucks should pay a little more because they carry heavier weights.

Joey Parker: Sure.

Senator Doug Libla: So, that’s kind of were it ended up at and that’s where we are moving forward at.

Joey Parker: Mike Kehoe, the Floor Leader, says that he is going to allow as much time as needed to debate this bill. Are you confident that it’s going to pass?

Senator Doug Libla: Well, you know I’m going to forecast that but I will forecast “effort.” I just think that the people of Missouri need and deserve safe highways and somehow we need to figure out who is going to pay for it. If you really stop and think about it just a little bit, what is that cent and a half actually mean to the average motorist here? It means about 80 to 90 cents a month for somebody who drives about 15,000 miles a year. So it’s less than twelve dollars a year extra that they would have to pay to be ensured to have safe highways and bridges and we’re having a lot of failures around the state on bridges.

Joey Parker: Some of your colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, have said especially with more fuel efficient cars and better gas prices now would be the time obviously the gas price could change overnight but the less fuel that’s sold the harder it is to come up with this revenue.

Senator Doug Libla: Well, actually the fuel purchased in the state of Missouri has actually been relatively flat for many many years. That has a lot to do with more fuel efficient cars. They’re not driving less. So the formula I gave you while ago, someone driving 15, 20,000 miles, getting about 20 miles per gallon is a very nominal cost to know that were going to be able to care of this huge investment that we already have in our state, here in our highways and bridges.

Joey Parker: Senate Bill 623. Senator Libla, we will be watching it. Thank yo, very much for joining us.

Senator Doug Libla: Thank you very much for having me today appreciate it.