S.C. Gas Tax Hike Headed to House Floor

A bill raising South Carolina's gas tax and a number of other fees to put an additional $600 million a year into the state's roads is on its way to the House floor.

The House Ways and Means Committee unanimously approved the bill Thursday after a 90-minute meeting that focused more on how the new money might be spent than the extremely rare move in conservative South Carolina to increase a tax.

The bill would raise the state's 16-cents-per-gallon gas tax to 26 cents per gallon over five years.

It also would create a one-time registration fee for people moving into the state. An amendment passed Thursday would exempt military members.

A similar bill made it this far before, but broke down in the Senate.