‘Two by two’ amendment also fails

Rep. JoAn Wood, R-Rigby, urged the House to reject the proposal to amend her 2-cent gas tax hike bill to make it into a phased, two-year, 4-cent hike. Rep. Marv Hagedorn, closing the debate, said lawmakers have an “obligation to maintain our infrastructure.” The $17.6 million his amendment would raise annually after two years isn’t near enough to meet a $240 million annual maintenance backlog, he said, but he called it a good first step. However, that amendment, too, failed.