As of Wednesday morning, valley drivers paid about $2.13 for a gallon of regular gas. Of that sum, 18-cents goes toward road construction and maintenance under the state gas tax rate. 

That tax has not changed in more than 25-years. It’s a fact not lost on Prescott’s State Senator Karen Fann, who admitted she does not like the “T-word,” following a decades long republican aversion to the word “Tax.”

In front of her fellow Senate Transportation Committee members Tuesday, she asked how they plan to keep up infrastructure otherwise.

"We cannot move our goods, we cannot move our people, we cannot get to work if we don't have decent roads and transportation," Fann said.

The committee unanimously passed two measures designed to offset growing inflation and close a funding gap. The first, would add a 0.5 percent sales tax to vehicle registration fees, whether it’s gas or electric.  

Senator Bob Worsley authored SB 1146 and pointed out he has paid no more than $12 each year to drive his electric car on Arizona’s roads, and zero gas tax dollars to keep it running.

“It's really not fair,” Worsley said. “I use the same roads. In fact, I get to use the HOV lanes."

The other senate measure, SB 1147, would allow counties to ask voters for a 10-cent per gallon tax hike to repair community roads.  

The governor’s office weighed in on the idea, saying it’s not looking to raise taxes. That only aggravated fellow republican and Phoenix State Senator Kate Brophy-McGee.

"For those who are not supportive,” she said, “I would really like to ask the question: What's your solution?''

If there is any indication of the measure’s chances, a similar plan stalled in the House last week.