No more stickers: Northam proposes getting rid of inspection stamps during budget unveiling

Increases in gasoline and tobacco taxes plus a big proposal for education are included in Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s biennial budget unveiled Tuesday.

In remarks to the House and Senate budget committees, Northam said he wants help make Interstate 81 safer by imposing an incremental 4-cent gas tax increase over three years to fund highway construction. While new dollars would funnel in from the increase, Northam says the inspection stickers required on automobiles would be phased out.

The governor also wants $1.2 billion approved for K-12 instruction and tacking-on an additional 30 cents per item for cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to help fund healthcare.

(PHOTO: Commonwealth of Virginia)