Senators to Propose Gas Tax for Road Projects

"A lot of people are working hard and in good faith to come up with a responsible solution to our statewide transportation challenges," Hall said. "The discussion is not helped by swinging at every pitch thrown during the legislative process, so we will withhold comment until we learn more about this proposal."

Many of the features of the new proposal are similar to the GOP plan negotiated this month, after a year of deadlock between the House and Senate.

Efforts to impose new taxes on gasoline suggest that the Senate is fiercely divided over how best to finance road improvements. Several of the Senate's leading Republicans, including Stolle, are expected to oppose the idea of increasing taxes on gasoline.

But some senators, who had expressed support for the earlier deal negotiated by Republicans, said they might support the gasoline taxes when the committee meets.

"I've always felt that gasoline taxes and sales taxes were the best approach to it," said Sen. Frederick M. Quayle (R-Chesapeake), one of the wavering senators. "That puts the burden where it should be."

Gasoline has been exempt from the sales tax in Virginia for years, with a per-gallon tax imposed instead. Only about 10 states impose a sales tax on gas; Maryland and the District do not. Virginia's 17.5-cent gas tax is less than the national average of about 20 cents per gallon.

Saslaw said the idea of taxing gasoline more heavily would allow the state to get money from out-of-state motorists and truckers who drive on the roads but do not pay local or state taxes. He said 40 percent of Virginia's interstate traffic is made up of people who do not live in the state.

"They want to take the money from the schools, the state police and higher ed to pay for it, all to avoid charging anyone from out of state," Saslaw said of his colleagues who oppose higher gasoline taxes. "They want to live with that; that's fine. But that's not a solution."

Stolle said he does not disagree with that logic. But he said pursuing a tax on gasoline is not practical in the current political setting.

"We did that last year, and we got stuck for 10 months and nothing happened for transportation," Stolle said. "It's time to work on a compromise."