Wyoming Lawmakers To Consider Increasing State Fuel Tax

A bill has been filed for the 2021 session of the Wyoming Legislature that would increase the state tax on fuel from the current 24 cents a gallon to 33 cents. You can read House Bill 26 here.

A fiscal note attached to the legislation estimates the tax hike would raise roughly $40 million per year for the state highway fund. Another $14 million would be raised for county road funds around the state.

The bill is being sponsored by the legislature's Joint Revenue Interim Committee As a general rule, committee-sponsored bills in the legislature tend to have a better chance of approval than bills sponsored by individual lawmakers.

Wyoming last approved a fuel tax increase in 2013, when the tax went up by a dime a gallon. While the legislature is slated to convene on Jan. 12, it is expected to adjourn again shortly after that until sometime later in the year when most of the day-to-day work of considering legislation will happen.

The change in the 2021 session schedule is due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.