WASHINGTON – With gasoline prices reaching their lowest levels in years, talk is brewing in Congress that it may be time to increase the federal gas tax for the first time in more than 20 years.

The Hill reports that leading Republicans are now saying that a gas tax hike must not be ruled out. The GOP has long opposed increasing the current 18.4-cents-per gallon gas tax as a means for replenishing the Highway Trust Fund.

"I just think that option is there, it's clearly one of the options," said Sen. Inhofe (R-OK), the new chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sen. John Thune (R-SD), chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, also said they were open to the possibility of raising the tax.

“Comments this week from Sens. Inhofe, Hatch and Thune signal a growing recognition that the gas tax is a fair and consistent way to fund our infrastructure needs,” Association of Equipment Manufacturers spokesman Michael O’Brien told The Hill.

Hatch said that some Republicans could support a gas tax increase if it was paired with tax cuts elsewhere. "Personally, I think we're going to have to change the rhetoric on that," he told The Hill, adding, "People who use the highways ought to pay for them. That's a small price to pay to have the best highway system in the world. And that may be where we're going to have to go."

Meanwhile, House Republicans may not share the same support as their more conservative Senate counterparts.

"My guess is there's far more interest in the Senate than there is in the House," said Rep. Kevin Brady (TX).

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) commented:  “A highway bill is critically important … It’s a priority for this year. How we’ll fund it ... We are going to have to work our way through this.”