Tag: State Rep. David Alexander

House Transportation Subcommittee Adjourns Before Any Action Taken on Road Funding Proposals.

Tennessee Star Staff

The House Transportation Subcommittee adjourned suddenly on Wednesday after State Rep. David Hawk (R-Greeneville) presented his alternative road funding plan. A report late Wednesday in The Chattanooga Times Free Press makes it clear that State Rep. Barry Doss (R-Leoma) (pictured in the headline image), a member of the subcommittee, “who is chairman of the full House Transportation Committee and who is carrying the governor’s bill” is the force behind the surprise adjournment. “[W]e were about to get the governor’s bill out today. But evidently there were some people who were uncomfortable, maybe, with the Hawk plan. And they weren’t ready to vote on the Hawk plan,” Doss told The Times Free Press: Doss said he sees the adjournment vote as a response to the Hawk bill. “And I think there’s a lot of people uncomfortable with that bill,” Doss said. “We come back next week and I think more people are comfortable with the governor’s plan.” The “Hawk Plan” increases road funding in Tennessee without increasing taxes and has been embraced by conservative legislators seeking an alternative to the plan presented by Governor Haslam which dramatically increases gasoline and diesel fuel taxes for Tennessee drivers and guarantees automatic future increases through “indexing”. Immediately…

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House Transportation Subcommittee Vote on Haslam Gas Tax Scheduled Today, No Representative from Pilot Flying J Has Yet Been Called to Testify

Chris Alto

The first test of Gov. Haslam’s proposal to increase the gas tax to fund road construction is scheduled to take place when the House Subcommittee on Transportation votes today on whether to move the bill to the full Transportation Committee. The Subcommittee has heard testimony from various supporters and opponents of the bill, but to date has not yet heard testimony from representatives of one private corporation that will be impacted by the proposed gas tax increase: Pilot Flying J, the company owned and operated by Gov. Haslam’s family. Questions have been raised by opponents about the potential conflict of interest posed by Governor Haslam’s proposed fuel tax increase if it benefits the privately held, family owned business Pilot Flying J, a distributor and a retailer of gas and diesel fuel. Critics of any fuel tax increase, whether it is the governor’s plan or the alternative Hawk plan, have questioned whether cash flow increases on the distribution side from collecting and holding the increased tax and/or increased profits on the retail side, could aid Pilot’s recovery from its $162 million payout related to the company’s rebate fraud case. The Tennessee Star asked committee members whether a representative from the ranks…

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State Rep. David Alexander Changes Mind on Gas Tax Increase After Dinner With the Governor

Tennessee Star Staff

A key member of the House Subcommittee on Transportation who has previously stated his opposition to Gov. Haslam’s gas tax increase proposal has changed his mind. In an exclusive interview with The Tennessee Star, State Rep. David Alexander (R-Winchester), who many thought would vote to kill the governor’s gas tax increase proposal in the Subcommittee on Transportation when it comes to a vote this week, now says that after having dinner with Gov. Haslam in Winchster Monday night he wants to see the bill brought to the full House for a vote by all 99 members. The Star’s Laura Baigert first asked Alexander how he thought Monday evening’s gas tax town hall in Franklin County went. You can watch the full interview below:   Alexander acknowledged that many of the questioners at the town hall opposed the gas tax increase, as The Star reported earlier on Tuesday. Alexander praised the governor’s answering of questions at the event. “For the last 15 or 18 months he’s been talking about the issue across the state of Tennessee so he’s got it well learned,” Alexander said. “It went on for about an hour,” Alexander said of the town hall meeting. “After it was…

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Former Lt. Gov. Ramsey A Paid Consultant to Pro-Gas Tax Coalition

Tennessee Star Staff
Ramsey at Townhall

Former Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey told The Tennessee Star on Thursday he is a paid consultant to the Tennessee Coalition on Transportation, an advocacy group that supports Gov. Haslam’s 7 cents per gallon gas tax increase and a 12 cents per gallon diesel tax increase. Ramsey’s revelation came during a break in the two hour broadcast of the WWTN Gas Tax Town Hall, moderated by Nashville Morning News host Ralph Bristol on the Dan Mandis Show. The event featured a studio audience, which was virtually unanimous in its opposition to the gas tax. Ramsey advocated strenuously on behalf of the gas tax increase. He was one of eight panelists at the event. Other members of the panel included Andy Ogles, executive director of the Tennessee chapter of Americans for Prosperity, which opposes the gas tax, David Smith appearing on behalf of Gov. Bill Haslam, State Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville), State Sen. Paul Bailey (R-Sparta), State Rep. Barry Doss (R-Lawrence County), Rep. Brian Terry (R-Murfreesboro), and Rep. David Alexander (R-Winchester). “I did leave the legislature back, I made my announcement in March, and left in November, of course, at the election,” Ramsey said in his opening remarks as a member of the…

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