McKee Foods executive gets advice from top GOP lawmakers on how to lobby on Haslam road plan

Gov. Bill Haslam gives his annual State of the State address to a joint convention of the Tennessee General, Assembly Monday, Jan. 30, 2017, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Gov. Bill Haslam gives his annual State of the State address to a joint convention of the Tennessee General, Assembly Monday, Jan. 30, 2017, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

So just what is the best way to talk to Tennessee legislators you don't know about an issue you support, like Gov. Bill Haslam's proposed IMPROVE Act?

McKee Foods Vice President Eva Lynne Disbro took that question straight to the top Wednesday, seeking advice from House Speaker Beth Harwell, Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris and other Republicans.

It came during a panel discussion as Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry members held their annual meeting and lobby day at the state Capitol.

Disbro, who is over human resources at Collegedale-based food manufacturer McKee, told the leaders she backs Haslam's proposal.

It seeks to boost transportation funding in the state's highway fund through an increase in fuel taxes to tackle a $10.5 billion backlog of nearly 1,000 projects. Haslam also proposes cutting three taxes in the general fund, which has boomed over the past two years.

Disbro said she favors one of those cuts. It impacts corporate taxes for manufacturers like McKee, which produces snacks and baked goods like Little Debbie products and employs 6,300 employees in three states.

"What do you recommend that we do to help communicate to legislators across the state that these are real important issues for business?" Disbro asked.

The corporate tax change, worth about $113 million to companies statewide, would allow businesses located in Tennessee to choose a single sales factor weighting option for the purposes of apportioning multi-state income. It allows them to reduce their business excise tax if they produce products here but sell them mostly outside the state.

"You know, we as a manufacturer with three plants - one in Arkansas, one in Virginia and a really large one here in Tennessee - ship cakes all over the country," Disbro told the lawmakers. "We're really operating at a disadvantage because our corporate headquarters are also in Tennessee."

"So," she added, "this change would be really helpful for us, as well as other manufacturers that are headquartered here."

Haslam's proposal calls for increasing fuel taxes for the first time since 1989 with a 7-cent-per-gallon increase for gas and 12 cents on diesel.

"We really think that our road infrastructure is so important that we are willing to support [it]," Disbro told legislative leaders, "even knowing the increase in the diesel rates are going to cost us quite a bit because our trucks drive a lot of miles in Tennessee."

But it's "just real important that we have good roads and bridges," Disbro said. "So what can we do? We talked to our legislators in Southeast Tennessee. But what can the business community in Tennessee do to talk to our legislators across the state?"

Haslam's proposal includes funding for hundreds of millions of dollars in Hamilton County road projects. Among them are several impacting Collegedale, with one project widening the main road into the town where one of the McKee plants is located.

Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, R-Collierville, believes the state needs to do something for transportation. He told Disbro, "Don't take your legislators for granted in the first instance. These are tough issues for legislators to address. And so a little TLC goes a long way."

Another bit of Norris advice on the transportation side of Haslam's legislation: "I think emphasize the old wisdom that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Pay now or pay a lot later."

He also advised her to tell lawmakers Haslam's proposal is "essentially a reallocation of revenue to invest in the future of this state. There's no risk to being the lowest taxed state in the nation - we are and will continue to be even under some of the plans that have been proposed."

Haslam's total transportation package, which among other things increases vehicle registrations by $5 to $20, would boost revenue by $278.5 million.

At the same time, the Republican governor's proposal would cut $270 million in taxes supporting the general fund, which pays for most non-transportation programs in areas ranging from health to education.

That includes reducing the state's 5-percent sales tax on food by a half per percentage point, the corporate tax reduction for manufacturers and continued phasing out of the individual income tax on interest and investment income.

House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, who has been far more guarded in her comments about Haslam's fuel tax, detoured around the IMPROVE Act's specifics, and offered advice on lobbying.

"As your mother told you, you get more with honey than you do vinegar. Legislators like to be commended for serving and you want to give your input," she said.

House Majority Leader Glen Casada, R-Franklin, doesn't support Haslam's proposed fuel tax increases and instead backs devoting a quarter percentage point of Tennessee's existing 7-percent sales tax to transportation.

"I have great confidence 99 percent agree. Something needs to be done" on transportation, Casada said.

Noting that there are "several ideas out there" on where to find the money for transportation, Casada said, "that's a good thing about electing citizen legislators. We have ideas. We'll be debating those ideas and I think the key thing is you got to remember and when you meet with yours, compromise on something like this is a good thing.

"Everybody has a good idea. and everybody's got to compromise," Casada said. "You know the old saying, sausage tastes good but you don't want to see it being made."

Earlier Republican Senate Speaker Randy McNally of Oak Ridge told Tennessee Chamber members during a lunch-time address that the fuel tax is "really a user fee. It's so needed to upgrade our infrastructure and roads and make those necessary improvements so we can continue to attract industry to Tennessee."

And, he stressed, in a generally low-tax state it addresses one area where it's not, business taxes.

Contact staff writer Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow him on Twitter @AndySher1.

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