Several states are confronting transportation funding challenges as maintenance costs rise, and traditional revenue sources face pressure.

The Virginia Department of Transportation reported a projected $1.7 billion funding gap for highway maintenance over the next six years. The shortfall follows a 2025 budget decision that shifted funding from maintenance to new construction. State transportation officials are now considering shifting funds back to maintenance to address the gap, which could cut construction funding by up to 51 percent.

In Tennessee, fuel tax revenue fell 7.28 percent, or $8.2 million, in August compared with the same month last year, according to the state’s Department of Finance and Administration. Projections for the next fiscal year show a $1 billion shortfall.

Meanwhile, as states approach the midterm elections, gubernatorial candidates in Ohio and Massachusetts have proposed gas tax suspensions or reductions.

The GOP gubernatorial candidate in Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy, with support from Republican legislative leaders, proposed a 90-day suspension of the state’s motor fuel tax. His campaign said the lost revenue would be covered through a combination of existing state funds and savings associated with efforts to combat Medicaid fraud. Republican legislative leaders said they planned to move legislation on the proposal later this year.

In Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey (D) and Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Minogue offered different approaches to gas tax relief. On Sept. 22, Healey proposed suspending the state’s 24-cent-per-gallon gas and diesel tax for two months. Her administration estimates the suspension would provide approximately $120 million in relief. The lost revenue would be replaced by unbudgeted Fiscal Year 2027 collections from the Fair Share surtax, commonly known as the “millionaires’ tax,” which is required to be used for transportation and education.

Minogue has proposed a more permanent approach, calling for the gas tax to be suspended when gasoline prices exceed $4 per gallon and remain suspended until prices fall below that threshold. His campaign has also proposed permanently eliminating the gas tax and replacing the resulting revenue through savings identified through an audit of state spending, including what the campaign describes as “waste and fraud.”