Push for public vote on new Missouri gas tax increase tabled

(AP) A campaign to put Missouri’s new gas tax increase to a public vote has been tabled.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Monday reported that a conservative advocacy group dropped plans to get the issue on the ballot. Americans for Prosperity-Missouri had hoped voters would overturn the tax increase. But the group’s executive director says the campaign just didn’t come together.

The law will gradually raise the state’s 17-cent-a-gallon gas tax to 29.5 cents over five years. Buyers can get a refund if they keep their receipts.