Bill in Arizona State Legislature aims to raise gas tax

PHOENIX (FOX 10) -- A new bill introduced in the Arizona State House is one a lot of drivers may not like. State Rep. Noel Campbell has introduced a bill that would raise Arizona's gas tax for the first time in over two decades.

"My whole purpose is fairness across," said State Rep. Campbell. "If you use our roads, you should help pay for them."

State Rep. Campbell says he knows the funding formula for Arizona's gas tax is shrinking.

"Our roads and bridges infrastructure are crumbling, and every year we have less and less money to spend on our maintenence," he said. "I'm making this bill fair, because I'm including gas and diesel, which is already taxed. but also natural gas and propane, which is not taxed."

Under House Bill 2536, the gas tax in Arizona from the rate it's been at since 1991, 18 cents, to nearly three times as much by the year 2021, or 46 cents. The new rate would go even higher for truckers filling up in Arizona.

"I don't like that at all," said Dominique Johnson. "Hopefully, it stays the way it is now, or at least fluctuates not too much."

Johnson, however, knows it's a necessary evil.

"If it goes towards fixing the street, roads, then I'm all for it because some of these roads are dangerous to drive on," said Johnson.

The Arizona Department of Transportation says they have 47 percent of the funding they need, and there's no guarantee that a bump would fill the hole.