From The Trussville Tribune staff reports
MONTGOMERY — Just hours after giving her State of the State address, Governor Kay Ivey called a special session for legislators to consider her proposed gas tax increase.
In an unusual move, Ivey called for the special session to begin at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, just one day after the regular session began. She has proposed a 10 cents per gallon tax hike to be implemented over the next three years.
In addition to the gas tax, Ivey’s proposal calls for an annual $250 fee for electric vehicles and a $125 fee for hybrid vehicles.
“Due to the dire need to act now, I am calling the Alabama Legislature into a special session, focused solely on passing this critical infrastructure legislation,” Ivey said in a statement released Tuesday night. “Beginning tomorrow, as we enter this special session, we must shift our focus and tackle this issue together! It’s time to make our crumbling infrastructure system a problem of the past.”
The Special Session will be focused on legislation to levy an additional excise tax on gasoline and diesel fuel; legislation concerning the Legislature’s Permanent Joint Transportation Committee to provide for effective legislative oversight of the Alabama Department of Transportation; and legislation to provide the Alabama Highway Finance Corporation with authority to borrow money and issue bonds for the purpose of improving the Alabama State Docks and the Mobile Bay ship channel, Ivey said.