Missouri voters could be asked to approve tax increases to raise more than $650 million a year for transportation projects under legislation introduced last week.

According to the Springfield News-Leader, Democratic Senators James Mathewson and Danny Staples proposed a 1-cent increase in the state sales tax, to 5 cents on the dollar from the current 4 cents, and an increase in Missouri’s fuel tax to 19 cents per gallon from the current 17 cents.
If approved by legislators, the proposal will appear on the November 2002 ballot.
Republican Sen. Morris Westfall, who co-chairs the Senate Transportation Committee with Staples, told the paper he's glad Mathewson raised the issue.
"We have to address the problem we have in Missouri with our highways and roads," Westfall told the paper. "It gives us a starting point for debate."
The sales tax increase would raise an estimated $614 million annually and the additional fuel tax about $60 million.
The bill earmarks 50 percent of the new revenue for state highways; 30 percent for interstates; 15 percent for public transit; and 5 percent for other projects.