A Utah agency is asking state lawmakers to consider increasing the state fuel tax to generate highway funds. Gov. Olene Walker, meanwhile, has proposed transferring road dollars to education.

The Wasatch Front Regional Council, an agency that works in conjunction with local governments, is asking legislators this session to consider a 5-cent increase in Utah’s fuel tax, raising money, they say, that will keep the state on track with new road projects and maintenance on existing roads, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

If approved, it would put Utah’s fuel tax, currently 24.5 cents a gallon for diesel and gasoline, among the highest in the country.

The proposal follows an announcement from Gov. Walker that she would pursue shifting money earmarked for roads and highways to boost state funding for public education.

Walker’s plan would take nearly $65 million out of the Centennial Highway Fund and almost $18 million out of the B&C road fund to address education shortfalls, The Tribune reported.

Shifting money from the Centennial fund would result in the delay of several planned highway projects, according to Utah Department of Transportation Executive Director John Njord. He said the governor was looking at all her options.

“We have critical needs in this state,” Walker told the newspaper. “The need at our doorstep is education.”