WESTFIELD, Ind. (AP) — Gov. Mike Pence says Indiana will benefit from a short-term road funding deal that will pump roughly $230 million in new money into state highways and bridges over the next two years.
Pence praised the package approved by legislators earlier this month during a ceremonial bill signing Wednesday in the Indianapolis suburb of Westfield.
The package represents less than a quarter of the $1 billion boost in state highway money that Pence sought, but doesn’t include an increase in cigarette and gasoline taxes backed by House Republicans as a longer-term plan to increase funding.
The plan also gives about $580 million to city and county governments for local road projects, with much of that coming from a one-time distribution of local income taxes held in reserve by the state.
