(KTRS) – The top GOP lawmakers in Missouri are pushing a plan they say would fix the state’s roads and bridges without raising taxes.

The Republicans say that instead of raising the fuel tax, they could rely on savings from changes to social welfare plans. The savings are estimated to be $1 to $2 billion over the next decade. This proposal comes as a Senate committee endorsed a plan to raise the state’s gasoline tax by 1.5 cents–that plan is supported by MoDOT and Governor Jay Nixon.

Republican Senator Kurt Schaefer says the no tax plan relies on savings from measures that lowered lifetime welfare benefits and decreased the amount of time welfare recipients have to find a job.