WASHINGTON -- Voters were hot and cold when it came to infrastructure spending in this week's midterm elections, according to a report in CQ Roll Call.
In Massachusetts, a small majority of voters repealed a new law that had tied the state gasoline and diesel tax to inflation. Outgoing governor Deval Patrick (D), who signed the fuel-tax measure into law, warned that repealing it "threatens our ability to provide safe roads and bridges."
Charlie Baker, the Republican governor-elect, had opposed the law, which adjusted the fuel tax annually based on the percentage increase of the Consumer Price Index, while his opponent, Martha Coakley (D), supported it.
Voters in Louisiana rejected a proposal to establish a state infrastructure bank, while those in Greenville County, S.C., rejected a 1% sales tax that would have paid for road and highway improvements.
There were infrastructure funding victories in other states, however. Voters in New Hampshire re-elected Governor Maggie Hassan (D), who signed a law increasing that state's gasoline and diesel taxes from 18 to 22.2 cents per gallon (CPG) this past spring. She beat Walt Havenstein (R), who opposed the increase.
And ballot measures passed overwhelmingly in Texas, Maryland and Wisconsin designed to better protect transportation funding from being raided by lawmakers to use toward other purposes.
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