LINCOLN, NE - Nebraska State Senator Kathy Campbell introduced a bill earlier this week that would raise the state€™s fuel tax, the Associated Press reports.

Campbell€™s bill seeks to increase the state€™s current 7.5 cents per gallon fuel tax to 11.3 cents per gallon beginning this October, with an increase to 15.1 cents per gallon taking effect in October 2012.

Campbell introduced the bill as a means for assisting maintenance of the state€™s highways. The Nebraska Department of Roads reported last year that the state must spend $9.2 billion over the next 20 years to maintain state highways, a figure that could reach $13.2 billion with inflation. And Nebraska is already facing a budget shortfall that could reach $1 billion within the next two years.

Nebraska made tax news earlier this week when a lawmaker introduced a 210% cigarette tax increase.