With the failure of Missouri's gas tax increase, what's next for the roads?
This could make for an unpleasant argument in the state Legislature.
This could make for an unpleasant argument in the state Legislature.
This could make for an unpleasant argument in the state Legislature.
On Election Day, Missourians said no to raising the state's gasoline tax by 10 cents a gallon over the next four years.
Since there was no organized opposition, the defeat of Proposition D was a surprise.
Could Josh Hawley's strong victory in the Missouri Senate race be one of the reasons the proposed gas tax increase failed?
"That could be," said Kansas City's Republican state representative, Kevin Corlew.
Corlew, who lost his re-election bid Tuesday, led the group that put together a comprehensive look at the poor state of Missouri roads.
It was the foundation for the call to phase in the gas tax hike.
Looking at the numbers, Hawley's successful campaign brought many Missouri conservatives out to vote.
"I mean, there are people out there that will say no to any taxes," Corlew said. "Unfortunately, that's not a very conservative principle. Conservative principle is you take care of your house."
Or, in this case, the roads.
Almost everybody thinks the price of gas is always too high. Raising it further was always going to be a tough sell.
This gas tax defeat is the first serious setback for Gov. Mike Parson.
Almost from the day he took office in June, Parson traveled the state pushing the tax. He hasn't commented on the measure's failure.
It's a failure that's raising the possibility of an unpleasant argument in the Legislature.
"Which means you're going to have a fight with education, with welfare, with all of the different needs - very good needs that are out there," Corlew said.
This is one issue that's not going away. It will likely be a big topic for the next session of the Missouri Legislature which starts in January.