LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas’ governor has signed into law a $95 million highway funding bill that will raise fuel taxes for the first time in 20 years, setting up an election year fight over another part of the plan that will go before voters next year.
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday signed legislation imposing a new wholesale tax on fuel that will raise gas prices by 3 cents a gallon and diesel by 6 cents. The new law also taps into at least $35 million in expected revenue from casinos and imposes an additional registration fee on electric and hybrid vehicles.
Another part of the governor’s highway plan, a proposal to permanently extend a half-cent sales tax for roads, goes to voters next year.
