Gov. Mike Parson calls on community leaders to push Prop D for future of Missouri

Gov. Mike Parson urged area civic and local government leaders Tuesday to push for passage of Proposition D, the fuel-tax-increase measure on the November ballot.

He told the audience at the Drury Plaza Hotel Conference Center in Cape Girardeau improving the state�s roads and bridges and workforce development are vital to moving Missouri forward. He said they are the two major focuses of his administration.

Schools, government and the private sector must work together to train the workforce needed for business and industry, Parson said.

�You have to be part of the solution,� he told the crowd.

Much of his speech focused on Prop D. The fuel-tax-increase measure on Missouri�s November ballot would funnel millions of dollars annually to cities and counties statewide to fund road and bridge projects. It also would provide a dedicated funding source for the Missouri State Highway Patrol. That would free up existing gas tax money, which now goes to the patrol, to be used for more state road and bridge construction work.

If passed by voters, Proposition D would increase the fuel tax by 2.5 cents a gallon each year for the next four years. At the end of that time, the per-gallon tax would have risen from 17 cents to 27 cents.

Missouri�s gas tax was last raised in 1996.

Parson said it is time to raise the tax. As a result of inflation, the existing 17-cents a gallon tax now has the buying power of only 7 cents a gallon, he told business and community leaders.

At the same time, the state over the past 22 years has built 6,200 more miles of roads and bridges, according to Prop D supporters.

Missouri has the seventh largest highway system in the nation, but its fuel tax is the second lowest in the nation behind only Alaska, Parson said.

�One of the main functions of government is to take care of infrastructure,� said the governor, who is on a 13-city, four-day tour of Missouri to promote the tax measure.

SaferMO.com is paying the cost of the governor�s tour of the state, said Prop D campaign spokesman Scott Charton.

Parson said road and bridge improvements are essential for communities to grow and businesses to expand.

�I believe it is the best thing for the future of the State of Missouri,� Parson said.

The governor said he doesn�t want Missouri to be a �flyover state� but rather a destination.

Prop D would generate about $412 million a year in new money, with the state receiving 70 percent of that money.

More than $288 million annually in new revenue would support the Missouri State Highway Patrol while freeing up the same amount of money every year for state road and bridge projects.

More than $123 million annually in new money would be distributed to cities and counties to fund their road and bridge projects, according to SaferMO.

The tax increase also would allow Missouri to leverage billions of dollars in federal funding for road and bridge projects, according to proponents.

It also would create a �Freight Bottleneck Fund� allowing lawmakers to earmark money from various revenue sources to fund major road projects to alleviate traffic congestion.

�It does not appropriate money, but it does create the fund,� Charton said at a news conference after the governor�s speech.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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