(AP) - The state Senate has approved a bill authorizing hazardous duty pay for state transportation workers.

The bill, which would cost taxpayers an estimated $2.5 million annually, was approved on a 13-8 party line vote Thursday, with one Republican joining majority Democrats. It now goes to the House.

The legislation applies to Department of Transportation employees plowing snow, cutting grass or otherwise working on roads classified as interstates, expressways, arterials, or collector roads.

Republicans said taxpayers can't afford the measure, and that lawmakers continue to deplete the transportation trust fund, which is intended to pay for construction projects, to pay for DelDOT operating expenses.