Helena – Despite months of campaigning on fiscal responsibility and opposition to a statewide sales tax, Governor Steve Bullock is now supporting a raising the state fuel tax.
At a contentious confirmation hearing this week, Department of Transportation director Mike Tooley admitted the Bullock administration wanted to propose an increase in the fuel tax but didn’t because they didn’t think they could get it passed in the legislature.
Tooley told lawmakers, “We did not want to be the ones to propose that, because we really wanted a fix, and we didn’t want to get in the way of a fix, in the process.”
The Montana Contractors Association is leading a coalition of special interest groups that are proposing a 38% increase in the tax on gasoline and diesel.
According to the National Institute for Money in State Politics, Governor Bullock received more than $40,000 in campaign contributions from contractors and those in the construction industry during his 2016 campaign.