NASHVILLE – With Republican Gov. Bill Haslam’s gas tax bill scheduled to hit the House and Senate floors on Wednesday, GOP House Speaker Beth Harwell on Monday urged divided fellow Republicans to “try to keep personalities out of it” during debate.
“This will be a hard week,” Harwell told GOP Caucus members Monday. “We got big votes and I’m just asking y’all no matter how you come down on this – we’re going to have good Republicans for this bill, we’re going to have good Republicans against this bill – I’m asking you to be kind to each other.
“We don’t have to make it a personal thing, we don’t have to talk about anyone,” Harwell added. “Just vote your conscience and say what you need to about the issue. But let’s try to keep personalities out of it.”
Her comments came after weeks of infighting among House Republicans and a weekend in which Haslam launched a personal lobbying campaign by phone seeking to sway enough undecided Republicans and Democrats to vote for his IMPROVE Act.
With their 73-member “super majority,” Republicans alone have enough representatives to pass the bill in the 99-member chamber. But the GOP is split on the bill, which seeks to replenish the state’s highway fund with a 6-cents-per-gallon increase on gas and 10 cents on diesel over the next three years.