NASHVILLE - Gov. Bill Haslam's administration is walking back remarks by the governor's top deputy indicating a last-minute legislative push for new taxes to fund a revamped road program.
"I wouldn't anticipate that happening," Haslam press secretary Jennifer Donnals said in an email to the Times Free Press. "The next steps in this conversation are talking with other members about projects in their area."
Chief of Staff Jim Henry told House Transportation Committee members on Tuesday the state has extensive needs and said, "I just want to hopefully impress upon you the urgency of this."
"We can wait, we can kick the can down the road, but I think the time for dealing with it is now," Henry said, according to a video recording of the meeting. "And we'll try to do that in the next coming weeks, and in a few weeks try to come back to you for something specific that we've recommended as far as how we get there, how much it's going to cost and who's going to pay for it."
Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, told reporters later Thursday that while he backs new revenue for transportation, "it's too late to address" issues like fuel tax increases this session.
Rep. David Alexander, R-Winchester, a House Transportation Committee member was surprised, like other lawmakers, by Henry's remarks.
"I think they [the administration] may have gotten just a little bit excited," Alexander said.
In House action Thursday, the GOP-led chamber voted 73-18 for a resolution sharply criticizing the U.S. Supreme Court over last year's landmark decision legalizing same-sex marriage.
House Joint Resolution 529, which now goes to the Senate, says the General Assembly "expresses its strong disagreement with the constitutional overreach in Obergefell v. Hodges that, in violation of the constitutional and judicially recognized principles of federalism and separation of powers, allows federal courts to order or direct a state legislative body to affirmatively amend or replace a state statute."
The resolution's sponsor, Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mt. Juliet, during floor debate called the high court's ruling "very dangerous," saying the court's decisions should not be allowed to set or change Tennessee law.
"If we let them do this today, they will do it more in the future. We need to speak up as a legislature," she said.
The measure has no legal effect. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Stewart, of Nashville, called it a distraction and likened it to other GOP bills, including one designating a Tennessee-made military sniper rifle as the state's official rifle.
Still, a handful of socially conservative Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Kevin Dunlap, D-Sparta, voted for the resolution.
Two other lawmakers, meanwhile, are pushing legislation they hope could force the same-sex marriage issue back before the Supreme Court.
Despite it failing to clear a House subcommittee, Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet, the Senate sponsor, says she isn't giving up in her chamber.
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com, 615-255-0550 or follow via Twitter @AndySher1.