The North Dakota Senate defeated a bill to raise the state's gas tax by four cents.
The current gas tax in North Dakota is 23 cents. The bill would raise the tax to 27 cents, and would generate an additional $59 million every biennium. The bill came to the Senate on a do not pass recommendation. District 4 Senator Jordan Kannianen says the Department of Transportation did not recommend this action, and that other bills before the legislature do more to address additional revenue for North Dakota's transportation infrastructure. But some Senators believed the issue deserved another look. District 41 Senator Kyle Davison says his constituents would gladly pay an increased gas tax.
"This is not an unreasonable tax - I walked around this weekend, my wife was so tired of walking with me - it was the grocery store, the restaraunt, the wellness center. 'What do you think of raising the gas tax 4 cents?' There wasn't one constituent I talked to that said, don't you dare do that. They said 'that sounds like a good idea, I'd like better roads.' Then they'd go ahead and tell me which road they'd like fixed first."
The bill failed on a vote of 18 to 24.