NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Tennessee lawmakers have adjourned for the year after a session that featured heavy infighting among the Republican majority about Gov. Bill Haslam’s gas tax hike and other budget issues.
The House and Senate concluded the first session of the two-year 110th General Assembly on Wednesday afternoon after disposing of a handful of bills. The heavy lifting – and heated exchanges – all came earlier in the session.
“There were a few bumps in the road. There always will be,” said Senate Speaker Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican in his first year in charge of the upper chamber. “We get over them.”
Haslam’s road funding plan dubbed the Improve Act raises the tax on gasoline by 6 cents over the next three years. The plan also cuts taxes on groceries, manufacturers and income from stocks and bonds.
House Republicans were deeply divided over the measure, but the bill ended up clearing the chamber with Democratic support. House Speaker Beth Harwell of Nashville was among the chamber’s Republican leaders who tried to find alternative methods to boost road funding, but she ultimately voted in favor of the final version of the bill that included the fuel tax increases.