Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) says that she and many other members of the Tennessee House of Representatives will introduce an alternative plan that will not increase gas taxes when the IMPROVE Act “Tax Cut Act of 2017” comes before the House Finance Ways and Means Committee on Monday for consideration.…
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Americans For Prosperity-Tennessee (AFP) announced ‘A Day of Action’ in the fight against the gas tax hike in the home district of Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville), in order to encourage her to oppose the unpopular measure. Volunteers will be door-knocking all day Saturday, April 8 from 9 a.m. to 5…
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Concerned Veterans of America (CVA) blasted Tennessee’s Republican political establishment on Monday for using veterans in a “Tennessee [gas] tax hike ploy.” “The politicians pushing for this gas tax increase know that it’s unpopular, so they’ve resorted to using veterans as pawns to push their big government agenda. Pretending that…
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In a stunning abuse of power, State Rep. Barry Doss (R-Leoma) broke a long-standing rule of the Tennessee House of Representatives to ram an amended version of Gov. Haslam’s gas tax increase through the House Transportation Committee he chairs on Tuesday. A bill containing the new and improved IMPROVE Act…
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The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) total costs for “Administration” plus “Headquarters Operation,” what would be considered “overhead” in the business world, have grown by 63 percent, from $78.9 to $117 million, in the seven years between Gov. Haslam’s first budget in FY 2011-12 and his proposed budget for FY…
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The House Transportation Committee failed to advance Gov. Haslam’s IMPROVE Act (HB 0534) on Tuesday, despite multiple tactics employed by Chairman State Rep. Barry Doss (R-Leoma), a vigorous proponent of the governor’s gas tax increase proposal, to accomplish that outcome. The committee voted instead to roll the vote over…
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The State Senate Transportation Committee voted on Monday to approve the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s (TDOT) 2017-18 budget of $2.2 billion, an increase of 15 percent over the 2016-17 budget of $1.9 billion. Five members of the committee voted in favor of the increased funding, while three passed on the…
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“I actually have a slide in my town hall presentation that shows why money is diverted from the Highway Fund and where it goes,” State Rep. Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) told a constituent in an email, confirming The Tennessee Star’s report that Highway Fund user fees are being allocated to the…
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One of the principles asserted by Governor Haslam in support of his IMPROVE Act and its proposed increase of 7 cents per gallon in the gas tax is that “users” of roads should pay for road construction. The gas tax is proper, he argues, because people who purchase gas to fuel…
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State Senator Paul Bailey, Chairman of the State Senate Transportation Committee, has not responded to an inquiry from The Tennessee Star to explain the Tennessee Department of Revenue’s correction of his assertion that Pilot Flying J, the truck stop company owned and operated by Gov. Haslam’s family, will not benefit…
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Last week The Tennessee Star asked State Sen. Paul Bailey, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee and general manager and vice-president of Charles Bailey Trucking Company, about the possible impact Gov. Haslam’s proposed gas tax increase will have on Pilot Flying J’s business operations and whether it would be in the…
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On Wednesday evening, Governor Haslam spoke about his proposed 7 cent gas tax and 12 cent diesel tax increase at Sumner County’s Station Camp High School to a group of about 300 people, around 100 of whom received a personal email invitation from County Executive Anthony Holt. The governor, joined…
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Less than two weeks before Governor Haslam introduced his IMPROVE Act centered on a gas tax increase for road funding, Pure Foods, Inc., a recipient of $1.2 million in state economic development funds, filed for bankruptcy. The $1. 2 million from the state’s FastTrack Economic Development (ED) Fund did…
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Two leading Democrats in the Tennessee General Assembly support the main element of Gov. Haslam’s plan to fund road construction by increasing the state tax on gasoline. For State Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) and State Sen. Sara Kyle (D-Memphis), however, it’s a matter of degree. While Gov. Haslam…
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Fifty-five percent of “Tennessee members of the National Federation of Independent Business [NFIB], the nation’s leading small-business association,” oppose Gov. Haslam’s gas tax increase proposal to fund road construction, the NFIB said in a statement released on Monday. “NFIB’s policy positions are based on the direct input of our members,”…
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State Rep. Andy Holt “told a group of local citizens Saturday that Gov. Bill Haslam’s proposed gasoline tax increase is unnecessary and ill-timed and that there are better ways to fund road improvements,” the Post-Intelligencer reports. “Holt argued against the Improving Manufacturing, Public Roads and Opportunities for a Vibrant Economy…
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“The only reason government exists at all is to buy things for the people that they can’t buy for themselves,” Gov. Haslam told the Smith County Rotary Club on Friday as he continued to promote his proposal to increase the gas tax by 7 cents per gallon. You can hear…
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State Sen. Mike Bell (R-Riceville) told the Cleveland/Bradley Economic Development Council he listened to the WWTN Gas Tax Town Hall moderated by Ralph Bristol on the Dan Mandis Show on Thursday, the Cleveland Daily Banner reported. “As I drove here, I was listening to a flame-throwing conservative talk show in Nashville, and…
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Gov. Haslam dedicated about one-third of his State of the State address, delivered to the General Assembly on January 30, to his gas tax proposal. Haslam refers to his proposal using the acronym in the bill that includes the details: the IMPROVE Act (Improving Manufacturing, Public Roads and Opportunities for…
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Andy Ogles, executive director of Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee (AFP), unveiled the group’s alternative plan to finance Tennessee’s highway infrastructure improvements on Thursday, vigorously rejecting Gov. Haslam’s proposed 7 cents per gallon gas tax increase. Speaking at the WWTN Gas Tax Town Hall, Ogles accepted the premise that Tennessee’s budget over…
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Increasing the tax on gasoline from 21 cents per gallon to 28 cents per gallon, as Gov. Bill Haslam has proposed, is not the only way to pay for new highways in Tennessee. The 2015 Comptroller’s Report, for instance, lists these eight additional ways: (1) Variable Rate and Indexed Fuel…
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