A member of the Tennessee State House of Representatives filed a bill Wednesday to repeal the state’s gas tax.
“The working people of Tennessee are getting hammered by inflation and horrendous energy policy that has caused gas prices to sky rocket! All thanks to the incompetence of Joe Biden and the Democrats in DC,” Rep. Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) told The Tennessee Star. “Tennessee is currently running monthly budget surpluses is in the hundreds of millions of dollars over projected budgeted revenues. This gas tax repeal is a way to try to help working Tennesseans and all those Tennesseans paying higher prices at the pump.
“I know it’s not much but it’s something,” he continued. “If we continue to run tax surpluses, Tennessee will not have to increase or take taxes from other revenues to cover to [sic] reduction of the gas taxes that go to help counties and local with road and bridge projects. In fact, my bill would actually provide more money for local road and bridges earmarked as ‘improve act’ projects.”
According to a Wednesday press release, the bill is labeled HB 1650.
In 2017, former Gov. Bill Haslam (R) passed a bill to raise the state’s gas tax by six cents per gallon for regular fuel, and 10 cents per gallon for regular fuel over the course of three years.
Griffey ran his 2018 campaign for office in opposition to that bill.
According to his press release, the gas tax will be repealed and instead, the funds will be diverted to Tennessee’s state budget surplus to fund transportation and infrastructure projects.
“Under my legislative proposal, the State would continue funding transportation and highway projects at the same financial level while at the same time giving tax relief to its citizens. We wouldn’t miss a beat with our infrastructure projects because Tennessee has the money,” Griffey said. “In fact, our coffers are overflowing and we are on a continued revenue growth trajectory, which is why the legislature needs to be looking at reasonable ways to effect responsible tax reform and mechanisms to return excess tax collections to taxpayers. My bill is one way to do it.”
– – –
Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Bruce Griffey” by Bruce Griffey and “Texaco Gas Station” is by Chris Yarzab CC 2.0.
Fuel tax reduced to pre-Haslam level with “all” of the collected revenues going to highway construction and repair.
State sales tax rolled back to pre July 2002 rate of 6%.
Heck. Reduce the state sales tax to 4%.
Griffey for governor! He has stood up for us when the RINOs would not!
Yeah, so thanks to a $3 billion dollar surplus, in part due to increased gas tax revenues, Tennessee was able to GIVE Ford almost a billion dollars to build electric cars! Am I the only one to see the irony here?
How long before our State government is asking for an increase in the electricity tax, supposedly to pay for roads?
But chomp on this fact for a minute. Energy costs (aka the price of gas) affect the cost of EVERYTHING! So, when the cost of EVERYTHING goes up, because EVERYTHING has a percentage-based STATE sales tax, so does the State Sales tax receipts! Sales tax on a $10 item is $0.975. Sales tax on an inflation driven item that now costs $12 item is $1.17.
This is diabolical! A never-ending circle of TAX AND SPEND! Thanks to a super majority Republican led State House, State Senate and Governor!
Kevin, you hit the bell and win a grand prize.
I remember that .01 sales tax increase that was supposed to sunset after one year. Back when sales tax was ~.08 on the dollar. That was over a decade ago.
Kevin, your observations are spot on. Does anyone else recall the lies that several state officials told to get the disastrous “IMPROVE” act passed? The one I liked best was that they would phase out the non-income income tax called the Hall tax to help offset the hit on taxpayers. The lie was simply that that the non-income income tax was already being ended.
I have also pointed put the insidious never-ending spiral of inflation of the cost of goods causing an equal inflation in sales tax. But I sure as heck have not heard one peep out of the governor (a one termer, I hope) nor my rep or senator about lowering the sales tax. The least that they could do was to end the terrible sales tax placed on groceries.
The most troubling problem is that, as you pointed out, the state government invents ways to give away our hard earned tax dollars with never a thought toward lower the tax rates in view of the GIANT surpluses being raked in. So much for the touted conservative super majority. They are simply slightly less fatal version of the Democrats.
Griffey for Governor ! “Lets Go Brandon”