JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri drivers will likely pay more at the pump starting this fall after lawmakers passed a bill to raise the state’s fuel tax for the first time in more than two decades.

A U.S. House caucus’ legislative funding strategy that considers an increase to fuel taxes for infrastructure systems garnered praise from the country’s premier trucking association.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said there was no chance that Republicans would back any tax increases to pay for President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan, leaving Democrats to try to force through a package on their own.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg acknowledged the lack of sustainable transportation financing sources, but suggested an increase to the federal fuel tax rate would not offer a long-term solution.

The Chicago City Council has voted to approve Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s 2021 budget proposal, which includes a fuel tax increase.

Many state transportation agencies continue to develop revenue forecasts to determine how much money they can expect to lose in fuel tax revenue, tolls and transit fares in the wake of the pandemic.

Chicago is planning for a 3-cent fuel tax increase in an effort to help restore the city’s financial well-being amid the coronavirus pandemic,

Voters in Missoula County, Mont., recently approved a gas tax as a way to finance local transportation projects.

WASHINGTON — The expiration this fall of the country’s central highway policy law means that its reauthorization must be urgently addressed by Congress, Ed Mortimer, transportation director at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told a Senate committee Feb. 25.

With the U.S. House of Representatives readying consideration of a comprehensive highway bill as early as the week of Jan. 27, Bill Shuster, formerly the leader of that chamber’s transportation panel, argued that an increase in the federal fuel tax is an ideal approach for Congress to consider as a means of funding for the measure.