Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) AP Photo

(CNSNews.com) - Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) says, current gas prices have gone down and the government is “missing an opportunity” to increase the gas tax.

At a press conference in Chicago on Friday Durbin said, “Two weeks ago I paid $1.51 a gallon for gasoline in downstate Illinois. Clearly, the price of gasoline has gone down dramatically, as has the price of a barrel of oil –which I think is below $30.”

“I think we’re missing an opportunity here – a 5-cent increase in the federal gas tax can really fund an infrastructure program that can help create new jobs in this economy and help businesses. Now is the time to do it.”

Durbin has been supportive of an increase in the gas tax for some time. Last year, the Illinois Democrat co-sponsored the TRAFFIC Relief Act, a measure that would increase the gas tax by 4-cents per year for the next four years, culminating in a 16-cents-per-gallon increase by 2020.

When added to the current 18.4-cent federal tax on gasoline, the end result would be a 34.4-cent per gallon tax by 2020.

The Traffic Relief Act was referred to the Committee on Finance in August of last year.