SC lawmakers: Roads need work, but funding unknown

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Legislators agree South Carolina’s roads and bridges are in dire need of work. How to pay for it is another matter.

The Department of Transportation estimates needing to nearly double the amount currently spent on roads by $1.5 billion yearly over the next 20 years just to bring them to “good” condition.

The idea of raising the state’s 16-cents-per-gallon fuel tax has been tossed around. But in a state controlled by Republicans who like to boast yearly of cutting taxes, legislators say that’s not even a possibility.

Gov. Nikki Haley urged the Legislature in her State of the State address to fix the state’s crumbling infrastructure, calling it a safety and economic necessity. But her suggestions fund a small fraction of the need.