Cigarette, Gas Tax Increases Approved For Road Funds

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana residents would pay more for gasoline and cigarettes but less in state income taxes under a bill the House has approved.

The chamber's roads funding plan passed on a 62-35 floor vote Tuesday.

House Speaker Brian Bosma has backed the bill, which Gov. Mike Pence and conservative groups criticize for raising Indiana's taxes. Under the bill, the cigarette tax would increase by $1 per pack and the 18-cent-per-gallon gas tax would go up by 4 cents.

The bill calls for the state income tax to be cut by 5 percent over eight years.

The bill now moves to the Senate, which also has its own plan backed by Pence that would earmark part of the state's surplus for road improvements as a short-term solution to the state's crumbling infrastructure.