LINCOLN, Neb.—The Legislature voted to increase the fuel tax on Monday, overriding a veto from Gov. Dave Heineman.
He quickly reprimanded lawmakers.
“Today the Legislature raised taxes on every working family in Nebraska by increasing the gas tax. I am very disappointed in their action,” Heineman said in a statement, adding that gas and diesel prices are at record highs at the same time the costs of other products are rising.
But senators said the increase is needed to help maintain the state’s roads, not build more. They pointed out that the fuel tax, with the increase, will be about the same as it was more than a decade ago—about 26.5 cents per gallon—even though road maintenance costs have risen significantly since then.
“If you look at the overall picture … this is the right thing to do, this is the responsible thing to do,” said Sen. Lavon Heidemann of Elk Creek, chairman of the budget-writing Appropriations Committee.
It takes 30 votes to override a veto; 34 lawmakers voted for the veto override Monday.
The override sustained the Legislature’s vote last month to approve the state budget. Heineman’s line-item veto of additional money for the Department of Roads that would trigger the roughly penny-per-gallon tax increase was his only suggested change to the budget.
Because a portion of the fuel tax rate fluctuates so that the state collects no more, and no less, than what the state budgets for road construction, there is no guarantee that the vote Monday will increase the fuel tax by a penny.
Technically, the override vote increases the Department of Roads’ budget by about $14.5 million a year, prompting an expected increase in the fuel tax to collect that amount.
“It may be 1.2 cents, it may be 5 cents, it may be more,” Sen. Philip Erdman of Bayard said of the effect of the vote on the fuel tax.
Despite the vote, the overall increase in the fuel tax could be less than what was expected because of a proposed change to a separate bill not voted on Monday.
Lawmakers are considering changing a bill (LB846A) so that millions of additional money for roads would come from the state’s cash reserve fund instead of relying on the fuel tax. If approved in its current form, the bill could prompt a fuel tax increase of more than 3 cents per gallon.
Under the proposed change, a total of about $15 million would instead be pulled from the cash reserve over the next three years.
The political consequences of raising the fuel tax during a time of high gas prices was a popular topic among senators who debated whether to override Heineman on Monday.
“We do not have to do this,” Sen. Mike Friend of Omaha said of overriding Heineman to increase the tax.
“We all know who wins—the governor. Who loses? The Legislature.”
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