If I were running for office, supporting the proposed state gas tax increase likely wouldn't win me many votes. Nonetheless, a gas tax increase at this time makes great sense and definitely is justified.

The Illinois portion of the gas tax hasn't been increased for almost 30 years, yet road construction and maintenance costs in that same time period have more than doubled. So we users of our roads and streets should be willing to take on an increased share of those costs, via a higher gas tax.

And what an ideal time to do so, when the cost of gas is very low. Even with the proposed doubling of the gas tax, the overall cost of gas still would remain much less than what it was just a few years ago.

For folks who would argue that the revenue from the gas tax would just be used for non-transportation related projects, in 2016 the legislature passed the so called "lockbox" amendment, which was specifically designed to prohibit this from happening. Also, I would think that any legislator who went along with diverting the gas tax revenues for non-transportation use, with all those potholes staring us in the face, would not be treated kindly by their constituents in the next election.

Dick McLane