Haslam: Gas tax off the table for 2016 legislative session
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – Republican Gov. Bill Haslam has decided not to pursue a gas tax hike during this year’s legislative session.
The Memphis Daily News reports (http://bit.ly/1Ou1CJ6 ) that Haslam confirmed he is “not going to propose a bill this year to raise taxes.”
The governor’s comments were made on a WKNO-TV program hosted by Daily News publisher Eric Barnes that airs Friday evening.
Haslam had traveled the state to draw attention to what he has described as a $6.1 billion backlog of projects already approved – but not funded – by the Legislature. But lawmakers are wary about approving a tax hike in an election year.
The state’s gas tax of 21.4 cents per gallon was last raised in 1989.
