NASHVILLE -- Tennessee lawmakers last week gave final approval to Gov. Bill Lee's $3.3 billion Transportation Modernization Act, which among other aims will expand taxpayer-funded interstates in rural areas from two to three lanes while also providing authority to introduce new publicly owned but privately funded and operated toll or "choice" lanes in Hamilton County and other congested urban areas in the state.
"Tennessee needs a transportation strategy fit for the fastest-growing state in the nation, and our plan will prepare rural and urban communities for continued growth and economic opportunity, all without new taxes or debt," Lee, a Republican, said in a statement. "I commend the General Assembly for its partnership to meet our state's transportation needs."
The governor first mentioned Tennessee needed to act the night of his November victory speech.
Lee and other proponents say the act will provide the resources needed to solve the state's current and future "mobility challenges."
That includes seeking the use of public-private partnerships to preserve state funds for rural infrastructure priorities, exploring Choice Lanes to decrease congestion and increase economic impact statewide, and expanding the alternative delivery model to save taxpayer dollars and deliver road projects more efficiently.
"Tennessee's strategic transportation plan will prepare TDOT with the resources needed to build and maintain roads across our rural and urban communities," Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner Butch Eley said in a news release. "We appreciate the support of the legislature and key partners as we pave the way for Tennessee's continued prosperity."
House Transportation Chairman Dan Howell, R-Cleveland, was among sponsors.
The governor's proposal hit a rough patch of road in the Senate Transportation Committee from some Democrats, almost all of whom represent urban areas, as well as some Republicans like Sen. Frank Niceley of Strawberry Plains, who warned that the toll system would be run by foreign companies since those firms operate similar systems in other states with specially priced congestion lanes, such as Georgia.
Niceley also warned of a toll system in Indiana which went belly up and had to be sold.
"What happens when this foreign company is almost going broke?" Niceley asked. "Can we keep them from selling to China?"
Eley and others argued that U.S.-based firms are beginning to show interest after years of foreign investments. Eley was a co-founder and former co-owner of the private for-profit management company Infrastructure Corporation of America, which was later sold.
Niceley also said while language in the proposed bill would allow Tennessee to maintain control over its current freeway lanes, the state would not be free to build additional ones in urban areas -- a limitation that also concerned Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville.
But Lee, Eley, other proponents and some experts say Tennessee really has little choice with a $26 billion backlog of projects.
Baruch Feigenbaum with the libertarian Reason Foundation told Senate Transportation Committee members recently that the advent of electric vehicles, combined with increasing gains in gas and diesel-powered vehicle fuel efficiency, are turning the once-dependable fuel tax into a "rock star on its farewell tour."
Gains in fuel economy are also impacting road funding, he said.
Taxes on fuel and vehicle registration are the largest funding source for transportation projects in Tennessee. Tennesseans and visitors driving through the state who need to refuel here pay 26 cents per gallon for gasoline along with 27 cents for diesel.
Hamilton County school voucher bill up in House education panel
A Senate-passed bill to bring Tennessee's school voucher program to Hamilton County is up for a vote Wednesday in the House Education Administration Committee, where the panel's chairman plans to add Knox County to the existing law that only covers the Metro Nashville and Shelby County school systems.
Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, who introduced the measure as Senate Bill 12, which previously passed in the upper chamber, is going along with that as is House Education Administration Chairman Mark White, R-Memphis, the bill's House sponsor.
But some proponents of the state's voucher program, known as Education Savings Accounts, have proposed amending the bill to make it apply statewide. White opposes that. So does Gardenhire.
The law, which continues to face court challenges, would provides families with an $8,200 voucher to pay tuition to private schools willing to accept the vouchers.
Pushed by Lee in 2019 during his first year as governor, the bill barely scraped through the House after a number of GOP lawmakers, including Gardenhire and most local House members, removed their counties from the law.
Immediately, there were allegations of vote buying with offers of pork barrel projects and even an alleged offer to a Democratic lawmaker, a lieutenant colonel in the Tennessee National Guard, to promote him to general in order to get the last vote to pass it. Then-House Speaker Glen Casada, R-Franklin, denied the promotion allegation.
Gardenhire, a longtime voucher proponent, as well as Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, R-Signal Mountain, said they removed Hamilton County from the bill in 2019 in part because Hamilton County school district officials assured them a special zone they were creating to boost outcomes at priority schools was in the works. Because the program hasn't worked, both lawmakers said it's time to give local parents an option.
The program finally launched last fall as a pilot program. It's survived multiple legal challenges but continues to face more. It permits up to 5,000 students to participate in its first year. But the state has approved only about 700 applications for families now attending Memphis-Shelby County Schools and Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools.
During the 2022 elections, voucher groups spent heavily in select House Republican primaries, where they helped defeat voucher opponents. Among lawmakers who lost their primary was then-Rep. Bob Ramsey, R-Maryville. He was defeated by Rep. Bryan Richey of Maryville. Richey is pressing to extend the voucher program statewide.
Senate approves ban on teacher dues deductions
The Senate last week approved a Lee anti-union bill, Senate Bill 281, which couples increases in minimum teacher pay with ending automatic payroll deduction for dues paid to professional educator groups, the Tennessee Education Association and the Professional Educators of Tennessee. Both groups represent teachers and other K-12 personnel.
Tennessee governors have traditionally increased educator salaries through the budget process, not a stand-alone bill.
Senators wound up dividing the question on the legislation, resulting in separate votes, one on the minimum pay hike and the other on ending payroll dues deductions. Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, the Republican Senate speaker from Oak Ridge, spoke out in favor of both.
Opponents say Lee clearly targeted the Tennessee Education Association and the Professional Educators of Tennessee, with the former having played a key role in successfully mobilizing opposition to several Lee efforts.
The governor showed no interest in ending dues deductions for members of the Tennessee State Employees Association and Highway Patrol troopers. Lee has opposed unionization efforts at Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant. Last year, the governor joined with former Gov. Bill Haslam, no fan of unions himself, in a successful campaign to enshrine Tennessee's Right to Work law in the state's constitution.
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-285-9480.