Missouri lawmakers continue their discussions of raising the gasoline tax to help fund highway and bridge construction.

A proposal to increase the gas tax by one-and-a-half cents per gallon for fuel and three-and-a-half-cents for diesel is getting support from Republicans and Democrats.

Missouri has one of the lowest gas taxes in the nation at 17 cents a gallon – a rate that has not increased since 1996.

The talks in Jefferson City come on the heels of new federal dollars and increased state revenue that caused Missouri’s transportation authority last week to reverse its earlier prediction of a funding crisis.

Despite the announcement, officials say a long-term solution to funding road and bridge projects is still needed. Missouri voters overwhelmingly rejected a transportation sales tax proposal in 2014.