Tennessee lawmaker wants to repeal Tennessee's gas tax to give 'tax relief' to residents

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--A Tennessee lawmaker has proposed legislation which would repeal the IMPROVE Act which raised the gas tax for Tennesseans to 26 center per gallon.

In 2017, the IMPROVE Act created a step system which gradually raised the gas tax from 20 cents per gallon to 26 cents in 2019. The tax also raised the tax on diesel by 10 cents per gallon.

Now, Tennessee State Representative Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) has submitted HB1650 which would repeal the taxes and instead divert state surplus funds to infrastructure projects.

In a statement on the bill, Rep. Griffey says "“Under my legislative proposal, the State would continue funding transportation and highway projects at the same financial level while at the same time giving tax relief to its citizens. We wouldn’t miss a beat with our infrastructure projects because Tennessee has the money. In fact, our coffers are overflowing and we are on a continued revenue growth trajectory, which is why the legislature needs to be looking at reasonable ways to effect responsible tax reform and mechanisms to return excess tax collections to taxpayers. My bill is one way to do it."

Rep. Griffey says he believes the state is already collecting excess taxes from Tennesseans while having $3.1 billion more in taxes than expected from the 2021 Fiscal Year. "I was opposed to the gas tax increase when it passed, and vowed to take action to fight it if elected to office. With gas prices exponentially rising due to inflationary pressures from bad, reckless policies of the Biden Administration, it is imperative now more than ever to provide financial relief to Tennesseans at the pump,” Rep. Griffey says.

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