Here are five things worth knowing today: 1. A new report suggests Hawaii increase its gas tax by 400%, according to Hawaii News Now. According to the report, Hawaii drivers pay the fourth highest gasoline taxes in the country, and a study is recommending upping it by 85 cents to reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuels. “The state has set a goal of reducing the amount of fuel used in cars and trucks by 385 million gallons a year, or about 70% by the year 2030,” Hawaii News Now said. “But without something to discourage use of gasoline the state will have a hard time reaching that goal.”2. Rep. Paul Ryan is urging the Senate to pass the House’s $8 billion transportation funding patch, according to The Hill. According to the report, Ryan said the Senate should pass the House’s plan and then send back a “clean highway funding extension.” According to The Hill, Ryan said: “The plan gives us our best opportunity to produce and pass a long-term bill to rebuild America’s roads, bridges, and other infrastructure this year. This is the right approach, and the Senate should move quickly to adopt this extension – without any unrelated measures – so that we can provide some certainty and get to work on a multi-year plan.”3. Last month, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam unveiled a program to help make it easier for soldiers transitioning back into civilian life to obtain their commercial driver’s license, The Fort Cambell Courier reports. The program, Highways for Heroes, brings a mobile testing site to Fort Campbell the third Wednesday of every month, according to the report. The Courier has more. 4. Tractor-trailer drivers educated teens in Gainesville about truck safety, The Daily News reports. During a summer driver education program, Letchworth Central School students learned about the hazards of driving near tractor-trailers. According to the report, students were asked to sit in a tractor-trailer cab so they could experience the “blind spots” a trucker encounters. 5. According to a report in Transport Topics, Greg Nadeau, FHWA nominee, told a Senate panel that he vows to improve safety on the nation’s highways. In 2014, data found that more than 32,000 people died on U.S. roadways, Transport Topics said.
