Tight state budgets and jammed roadways this year are prompting some U.S. state governments to make one of the most politically unpopular moves imaginable: raising gasoline taxes.
Because they hit everyone, gas taxes are widely disliked and rarely increased. But after decades of underinvestment in roads, bridges and public transport, states face heavy infrastructure costs and lack the money to handle them.
Wyoming was the first to make the leap this year, raising its tax to 24 cents per gallon from 14 cents on Feb. 15. It was the first increase in the state's gasoline tax in 15 years.
Governors in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Vermont have proposed raising fuel taxes, and the New Hampshire legislature will hold a hearing on Thursday on a bill that would phase in a 15-cent-per-gallon increase.
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