A sweeping transportation bill filed by one of the most powerful Republican leaders in the Legislature would allow voters to decide whether to temporarily increase Mississippi’s tax on motor fuels to pay for specific improvement projects on highways.

The bill, authored by Ways and Means Chair Rep. Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, calls for a statewide election this summer on whether to temporarily raise the tax on gasoline by 10 cents and the tax on diesel fuel by 14 cents to pay for $2.5 billion of bonds that would primarily fund specific state projects. The bill would also designate $300 million for local roads and bridges.

Lamar’s proposal also calls for adjusting the current 18.4-cent gallon tax on motor fuel on a regular basis for inflation starting in 2031. Officials with the Mississippi Department of Transportation have long said the 18.4-cent-per gallon tax, approved in 1987, no longer provides enough revenue to meet the state’s infrastructure needs.

Lawmakers face a first deadline of Feb. 24 to pass the bill. If the bill passes the House, it will move to the Senate for consideration. If the Legislature approves the bill, the statewide vote on the tax increase would be June 8, 2021 — the same date as the state’s municipal elections.

“I think I can get some support,” Lamar said when asked whether he could pass the tax increase. “Members like the statewide election feature. It is for specific projects, and the money is not just going down a dark hole at the Transportation Commission.”

For years, transportation and economic development leaders have all but begged lawmakers for serious long-term investment in the state’s aging roads and bridges. Lawmakers have passed several stopgap measures to designate more funding to infrastructure in recent years, but no long-term spending plan has met the experts’ funding requests.

Lamar said he views this pending legislation as the final step in addressing the transportation needs highlighted by recent multiple studies, including a Mississippi Economic Council study that cited that the Mississippi Department of Transportation needed an additional $300 million annually to address issues on the state transportation system.

Lamar has an uphill battle to get the proposal passed. The Legislature, which is controlled by a Republican supermajority, has avoided raising the gas tax. They have, however, been more willing to consider letting voters decide tough issues on a statewide ballot, as Lamar’s bill would do. And lawmakers regularly include specific infrastructure projects in transportation bills or bond packages.

Gov. Tate Reeves has long opposed efforts to raise the tax on gasoline and made that opposition a cornerstone of his 2019 campaign for governor. When Reeves served as lieutenant governor between 2011-2019, he blocked several efforts to consider a gasoline tax.

If Reeves opposes the bill, Lamar and other legislative leaders would need to secure a two-thirds to ensure the bill could survive a Reeves veto. Garnering a two-thirds majority on any legislation is difficult.

Reeves’ office did not immediately comment on the proposal on Wednesday.

There are two separate but related needs to be addressed when looking at Mississippi’s roads and bridges: the needs of local governments, which maintain the local roads and bridges, and the needs of the Mississippi Department of Transportation, which maintains state highways.