If one Texas legislator has his way Texans will soon have to pay more to renew their driving licenses. Right now Texas drivers pay $25 to renew their driving licenses every six years. According to Texas House Speaker Joe Straus that is just not enough and an increase in those fees would help offset the money spent by the state to repair roads and bridges.

Straus is a Republican in a Republican controlled state, so his opinion carries a great deal of weight. However, an effort in 2011 to raise the driver’s license renewal fee by $8 failed miserably. This time however, Governor Rick Perry has said it is time the state take a hard look at infrastructure repairs and ways to raise revenues to pay for this. Perry didn’t suggest they consider raising any particular fees, but the insinuation was obvious: what fees can be increased which don’t involve tax increases?

The current cost for driver’s license renewal in Texas is lower than in a majority of other states, and the length of time between renewals is also longer. By increasing this fee, or at least decreasing the amount of time between renewals, Texas legislators could raise millions of dollars in new revenues.

In lieu of new revenues Texas could be faced with a infrastructure collapse as roads and bridges face drastic levels of repairs and a dire need for a make-over. Whether or not Texas legislators will be able to muster the internal fortitude to force their constituents to pay those fees, well, only time will tell.