Growing push for more tax breaks in Haslam road funding plan

Friday, February 24, 2017, Vol. 41, No. 8

ALGOOD, Tenn. (AP) — As Republican Gov. Bill Haslam takes his proposal to boost transportation funding on the road, there is a growing call for his plan to include greater tax break for middle-class Tennessee drivers who pay more at the pump.

Haslam traveled to the Cumberland Plateau this week to make his case in a town hall meeting. The response among the crowd in Algood was varied, with several people expressing concern about how a 7-cents-per-gallon gas tax hike would affect their budgets.

The governor's plan would cut the sales tax on groceries, but not as much as he proposes cutting taxes paid on income from stocks and bonds and the taxes owned by large manufacturers. State lawmakers from both parties suggest that may need to change for the measure to gain support.