Democratic lawmakers unveiled their proposal to help fund transportation projects statewide, the plan would raise the state's gas tax, but the increase would be two cents lower than Governor Haslam's proposed IMPROVE Act.
Democratic legislators announced the plan Monday; it was named TNForward. If passed, it would raise the gas tax by five cents, indexing those taxes to the rate of inflation. Similar to Haslam's plan, it would also increase motor vehicle registration fees and address Tennessee's open container law which is currently costing the state $18 million in federal funds.
Democrats don't believe Governor Haslam's plan does enough to encourage and fund mass transit projects, specifically in Nashville and surrounding middle Tennessee counties.
"His plan fails to create a dedicated revenue stream for alternative forms of mass transit and mass transportation," state Representative John Ray Clemmons, a Democrat from Nashville, said on Monday.
"I think the governor's plan failed to account for the additional impact that population growth also has on our transportation infrastructure," he added.
Republicans have a super majority in both the Tennessee House and Senate, forcing Democrats to admit the likelihood of TNForward passing would be slim, still though, they urged cooperation on behalf of Governor Haslam.
"We want two good options, we don't want it to be us versus them. We don't want to say one is bad and one is good," state Senator Sara Kyle said.
