Painfully high energy prices? An economy on the brink of recession? The Virginia Senate knows just what to do:

RICHMOND, Feb. 15 — The Virginia state Senate voted today to approve a 5-cent increase in the gas tax over the next five years to raise additional money to maintain the state’s highways.
The Senate bill, approved 25 to 15, would increase the state’s 17.5-cent-a-gallon gas tax by a penny every year until 2014.