NASHVILLE – A top Tennessee Senate Republican made it clear Thursday that he’s not happy with news that House Republican Speaker Beth Harwell has been working behind the scenes on an alternative road funding plan that avoids the fuel tax increase in both chambers’ legislation.
“There’s a fine line between indecision and deception,” Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, R-Collierville, told reporters when asked about Wednesday’s development. “Next question.”
Asked to elaborate what deception he was referring to, Norris replied, “it’s hard to tell.”
The state Capitol tizzy began Wednesday when House Assistant Majority Leader David Hawk, R-Greeneville, told Budget Subcommittee members that he, Harwell and others were working on an alternative funding mechanism for Haslam’s IMPROVE Act.
A Harwell spokeswoman later said in response to Hawk’s remarks that the speaker, Hawk and two other House leaders were seeking to “develop an alternative that does not include a gas tax increase.”
That caught Republican Senate Speaker Randy McNally as well as Republican Gov. Bill Haslam and others, including Budget Subcommitee Chairman Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, who had just voted for the bill in his panel, by surprise.