SC Lawmakers are Divided on how to Fix SC Roads

Lawmakers have yet to get behind a single plan to fix the state’s crumbling roads with just days to go before the legislative session starts.

Legislators said road repairs will be a top priority in 2015 as they addressed the media Thursday, previewing the session.

But an increase to the state’s 16.75 cent-a-gallon gas tax appears to be off the table.

With S.C. gas prices averaging $2.01 Thursday, paying a higher gas tax would not be as great a burden for drivers as a year ago, when gas cost $1.10 a gallon more. But lawmakers are averse to raising the gas tax, in part because Gov. Nikki Haley, R-Lexington, has said she would veto a gas-tax hike.

Lawmakers are divided on how to raise the nearly $43 billion in added money needed for road repairs and expansion through 2040.

That means it may take more than one legislative session to come up with a roads fix, new House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Darlington, has suggested.

In the S.C. House, a special panel has been studying roads for months.

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