Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is expected to propose phasing in a 45 cents per gallon gas tax increase in her budget plan this week, multiple news outlets reported.

Whitmer, who made “fix the damn roads” a cornerstone of her campaign, will be presenting her plan for the state’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget to lawmakers Tuesday. Fox 2 Detroit first reported Monday afternoon the plan would raise the gas tax by 45 cents in three increments.

Kurt Weiss, spokesperson for the State Budget Office, said the proposed increase would come in 15-cent increments over the course of a year. The first would be in Oct. 1, 2019, followed by a second increase April 1, 2020 and a third 15-cent increase Oct. 1, 2020.

In 2015, lawmakers took a first step toward addressing road funding -- putting in place a plan to raise $1.2 billion a year with increased gas taxes and fees and putting general fund dollars towards infrastructure repair. But many experts say that isn’t enough money to get ahead of the problem.

Michigan Department of Transportation Director Paul Ajegba said at a Business Leaders for Michigan event on Monday he didn’t want to get out ahead of the governor’s announcement.

“I think once she releases the package everybody will be really impressed about how serious she is about this, fixing this road issue,” he said.

At that event, Business Leaders for Michigan released a report calling for additional funding for roads and other critical infrastructure, noting funding should be sustainable, dedicated and “sufficient to ensure at least good - and ideally, best - quality conditions."

Republican Party Chair Laura Cox was critical of the plan, referring to it as a “tax and spend” solution that further burdens Michigan families.

It’s unclear how Whitmer’s proposal will fare in the Republican-led legislature, although Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, has said he is open to new revenue.

He previously told reporters he sees the path to adequate infrastructure funding as a three-step process: agreeing on what the goal is, addressing any re-prioritization that can be done and then tackling the revenue question. Shirkey said he doesn’t believe the best ideas to do so have surfaced yet, but acknowledged that additional funding would likely be necessary.

“There’s no way we’re going to fix this problem that’s been 50 years in the making without coming up with new revenue for infrastructure,” Shirkey said.

In her budget, Whitmer is also expected to propose a $507 million increase in state K-12 classroom spending in her first budget, including a $180 boost to the minimum per-student grant and substantial funding hikes to teach Michigan’s low-income, vocational and special education students, according to an overview of the plan obtained by The Associated Press.